Climate variability along with anthropogenic activities alter the hydrological cycle and local wateravailability. The overarching goal of this presentation is to demonstrate the compounding interactions between human water use/withdrawals and climate change and variability. We focus on Karkheh River basin and Urmia basin, in western Iran, that have high level of human activity and water use, and suffer from low water productivity. The future of these basins and their growth relies on sustainable water resources and hence, requires a holistic, basin-wide management to cope with water scarcity challenges. In this study, we investigate changes in the hydrology of the basin including human-induced alterations of the system, during the past three decades. Then, we investigate the individual and combined effects of climate variability and human water withdrawals on surfacewater storage in the 21st century. We use bias-corrected historical simulations and future projections from ensemble mean of eleven General Circulation Models (GCMs) under two climate change scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. The results show that, hydrology of the studied basins are significantly dominated by human activities over the baseline period (1976 - 2005). Results show that the increased anthropogenic water demand resulting from substantial socio-economic growth in the past three decades have put significant stress on water resources. We evaluate a number of future water demand scenarios and their interactions with future climate projections. Our results show that by the end of the 21st century, the compounding effects of increased irrigation water demand and precipitation variability may lead to severe local water scarcity in these basins. Our study highlights the necessity for understanding and considering the compounding effects of human water use and future climate projections. Such studies would be useful for improving water management and developing adaption plans in water scarce regions.

Groundwater banking, the intentional recharge of groundwater from surfacewater for storage and recovery, is an important conjunctive use strategy for water management in California (CA). A largely unexplored approach to groundwater banking, agricultural groundwater banking (ag-GB), utilizes flood flows and agricultural lands (alfalfa/pasture) for recharging groundwater. Understanding soil suitability for ag-GB, crop health and flooding tolerance, leaching of soil nitrate and salts, the availability of surfacewater for recharge, and the economic costs and benefits of ag-GB is fundamental to assessing the feasibility of local-scale implementation of ag-GB. The study presented here considers both the availability of excess streamflow (e.g., the magnitude, frequency, timing, and duration of winter flood flow) for ag-GB and the risks and benefits associated with using alfalfa fields as spreading grounds for ag-GB. The availability of surfacewater for winter (Nov to Apr) ag-GB were estimated based on daily streamflow records for 93 stream gauges within the Central Valley, CA. Analysis focused on high-magnitude (>90thpercentile) flows because most lower flows are likely legally allocated in CA. Results based >50 years of data indicate that an average winter/spring (Nov. - Apr.) in the Sacramento River Basin could provide 7 million acre-feet (AF) (8.6 km3) of water for ag-GB from flows above the 90th percentile. These flows originate from few storm events (5-7 events) and occur on average for 25-30 days between November and April. Wintertime on-farm recharge experiments were conducted on a 9-yr old, 15-acre alfalfa field in the Scott Valley, CA, where 135 AF and 107 AF of water were recharged during the winters of 2015 and 2016, respectively. Biomass data collected indicates that pulsed application of 6-10 ft of water on dormant alfalfa results in minimal yield loss (0.5 ton/acre reduction), short-duration saturated conditions in the root-zone, and high recharge

Effects of surface-water diversions on habitat availability for native stream fauna (fish, shrimp, and snails) are described for 21 streams in northeast Maui, Hawaii. Five streams (Waikamoi, Honomanu, Wailuanui, Kopiliula, and Hanawi Streams) were chosen as representative streams for intensive study. On each of the five streams, three representative reaches were selected: (1) immediately upstream of major surface-water diversions, (2) midway to the coast, and (3) near the coast. This study focused on five amphidromous native aquatic species (alamoo, nopili, nakea, opae, and hihiwai) that are abundant in the study area. The Physical Habitat Simulation (PHABSIM) System, which incorporates hydrology, stream morphology and microhabitat preferences to explore relations between streamflow and habitat availability, was used to simulate habitat/discharge relations for various species and life stages, and to provide quantitative habitat comparisons at different streamflows of interest. Hydrologic data, collected over a range of low-flow discharges, were used to calibrate hydraulic models of selected transects across the streams. The models were then used to predict water depth and velocity (expressed as a Froude number) over a range of discharges up to estimates of natural median streamflow. The biological importance of the stream hydraulic attributes was then assessed with the statistically derived suitability criteria for each native species and life stage that were developed as part of this study to produce a relation between discharge and habitat availability. The final output was expressed as a weighted habitat area of streambed for a representative stream reach. PHABSIM model results are presented to show the area of estimated usable bed habitat over a range of streamflows relative to natural conditions. In general, the models show a continuous decrease in habitat for all modeled species as streamflow is decreased from natural conditions. The PHABSIM modeling results

In arid and semi-arid regions, sustainability of surfacewater and groundwater resources is highly uncertain in the face of climate change as well as under competing demands due to urbanization, population growth and water needs to support ecosystem services. Most studies on climate change impact assessment focus on either surfacewater or groundwater resources alone. In this study, we utilize a fully coupled surfacewater and groundwater model, Penn-State Integrated Hydrologic Model (PIHM), and recent climate change projections from Climate Models Inter-comparison Project-5 (CMIP5) to evaluate impacts of near-term climate change on wateravailability in the Nueces River basin, TX. After performing calibration and validation of PIHM over multiple sites, hindcast simulations will be performed over the 1981-2010 period using data from multiple General Circulation Models (GCMs) obtained from the CMIP5 Project. The results will be compared to the observed data to understand added utility of hindcasts in improving the estimation of surfacewater and groundwater resources. Finally, we will assess the impacts of climate change on both surfacewater and groundwater resources over the next 20-30 years, which is a relevant time period for water management decisions.

The Rio Grande/Río Bravo basin is a transboundary basin shared between several states in the United States and trends along part of the border between the United States and Mexico. The basin has a varied climatology - desert with high temperature and low water resources in the northern part and a tropical climate in the southern part. The surfacewater in the basin is over allocated, and some cities already rely solely on ground water to meet municipal water needs. The population and urban water demand are expected to double in the next 50 years. Climate variability and change, along with persistent long-term droughts, exacerbate the problem of meeting water demands. Uncertainty in the ways these climatic phenomena will affect the wateravailability in the coming decades will impact the effective long-term policies and management of water resources in the basin in the United States and Mexico, and this can lead to tensions over water allocation across the border. In order to study the impact of demographic changes and climate variability and change on future wateravailability, it is important to develop a model that can assess the current wateravailability and evaluate the effect of projected climate change, based on IPCC’s scenarios, on the hydrology of the basin. For this study we developed a model based on the community NOAH land surface model (LSM) within NASA’s GSFC Land Information System. The LSM is a 1-D column model that runs in coupled or uncoupled mode, and it simulates soil moisture, soil temperature, skin temperature, snowpack depth, snow water equivalent, canopy water content, and energy flux and water flux of the surface energy and water balance. The North American Land Data Assimilation Scheme (NLDAS2) is used to drive the model. The NLDAS2 datasets extends back to 1979, thereby allowing the model to be run retrospectively for a period of 30 years. Additional model parameters include seasonal maximum snow free albedo maps, monthly greenness

bias for the Colorado headwaters as also shown in Figure S1. Here the observed runoff values are taken from simulations of the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) land surface-hydrology model (3) forced by observed meteorology (5) that were conducted as part of the North American Land Data Assimilation System project phase 2 ( (NLDAS-2), http://www.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/mmb/nldas/. Runoff for California-Nevada is better simulated but there is a positive bias over Texas despite no strong precipitation bias. To check whether regional climate models better simulate P and runoff in these regions we analyzed the historical simulation with the Regional Climate Model version 3 driven by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction-Department of Energy Reanalysis 2 available from the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (http://www.narccap.ucar.edu). This model configuration retained these biases in P and runoff although they were reduced in amplitude. Given these varying biases we plot P and P - E changes in actual values but apply the simplest bias correction possible to the runoff and soil moisture values and show the modeled changes in terms of percentages of the 20th Century model climatologies. A thorough assessment of the simulation of North American climate in CMIP5 models is conducted in Sheffield at al. (North American Climate in CMIP5 Experiments. Part I: Evaluation of 20th Century Continental and Regional Climatology, manuscript submit ted to J. Climate, available at http://www.climate.noaa.gov/index.jsp?pg=./cpo pa/ mapp/cmip5 publications.html). Sheffield et al. analyze the climatology of precipitation, surface air temperature, low level winds, moisture fluxes, runoff etc. and conclude that the main features of the hydrological cycle, including characteristics of the atmospheric moisture balance and its seasonality, are captured in the CMP5 models subject to biases in total precipitation amounts. We chose to use all available models instead

This study discusses the effects of water abstractions from two alternative sources on the availablewater volume around Lake Naivasha, Kenya: the lake itself and a connected aquifer. An estimation of the water abstraction pattern for the period 1999–2010 is made and its effect on the available wate

This study discusses the effects of water abstractions from two alternative sources on the availablewater volume around Lake Naivasha, Kenya: the lake itself and a connected aquifer. An estimation of the water abstraction pattern for the period 1999–2010 is made and its effect on the available wate

Groundwater banking, the intentional recharge of groundwater from surfacewater for storage and recovery, is an important conjunctive use strategy for water management in California. A largely unexplored approach to groundwater banking, agricultural groundwater banking (ag-GB), utilizes flood flows and agricultural lands for recharging groundwater. Understanding the availability of excess streamflow (e.g., the magnitude, frequency, timing, and duration of winter flood flows) is fundamental to assessing the feasibility of local-scale implementation of ag-GB. In this study, we estimate the current availability and forecast the future availability of winter (Nov to Apr) flood flows based on current and historic daily streamflow records for 200 stream gauges on tributaries to and streams within the Central Valley, California. For each gauge, we consider flows above a stationary 90th percentile as ideal for ag-GB because reservoir operations mitigate flood risk by releasing early winter flood flows. Results based on 70 years of data show that for 25% of the gauges there are significantly decreasing flow volumes above the 90th percentile and a decreasing number of days with flows above the 90th percentile. These flows, on average, make up 20% of the total annual winter flows. The majority of gauges further show, over the past 70 years, a decrease in total annual streamflow magnitude, a decrease in the magnitude of extreme flood events, and an increase in the frequency of flood events. Variations in winter flood flows due to climate change and climate variability are a challenge to water management in California. To aid the long-term forecast of streamflow conditions in California, we present a new water year type index for the Central Valley, which considers the variation in flow percentiles over time. Together, our results suggest that flexible, coordinated efforts for the local diversion of flood flows are needed to better utilize the increasingly rare winter flood

Earth Data Analysis Center, University of New Mexico — This data set contains boundaries for all surfacewater and surface drainage for the state of New Mexico. It is in a vector digital data structure digitized from a...

New hydrological insights for the region: Overall, the study result elucidates that the chemical composition of different water bodies are due to natural processes and/or anthropogenic activities within the region. The local anthropogenic processes could be discharges from factory, domestic sewage and farming activities. Some of the water types are found to have relatively higher concentration of dissolved constituents. Irrigation waters have almost equal chemical compositions, indicating their hydrochemical sources are almost the same. Most of the concentrations are relatively high in Lake Basaka, groundwater and hot springs. It is easy to imagine the potential damaging effects of such quality waters on crop production, soil properties and environment of the region.

The purpose of this effort is to explore where the availability of water could be a limiting factor in the siting of new electric power generation. To support this analysis, wateravailability is mapped at the county level for the conterminous United States (3109 counties). Five water sources are individually considered, including unappropriated surfacewater, unappropriated groundwater, appropriated water (western U.S. only), municipal wastewater and brackish groundwater. Also mapped is projected growth in non-thermoelectric consumptive water demand to 2035. Finally, the wateravailability metrics are accompanied by estimated costs associated with utilizing that particular supply of water. Ultimately these data sets are being developed for use in the National Renewable Energy Laboratories' (NREL) Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) model, designed to investigate the likely deployment of new energy installations in the U.S., subject to a number of constraints, particularly water.

The availability of water resources is vital to the rebuilding of Kabul, Afghanistan. In recent years, droughts and increased water use for drinking water and agriculture have resulted in widespread drying of wells. Increasing numbers of returning refugees, rapid population growth, and potential climate change have led to heightened concerns for future wateravailability. The U.S. Geological Survey, with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development, began collaboration with the Afghanistan Geological Survey and Ministry of Energy and Water on water-resource investigations in the Kabul Basin in 2004. This has led to the compilation of historic and recent water- resources data, creation of monitoring networks, analyses of geologic, geophysical, and remotely sensed data. The study presented herein provides an assessment of ground-wateravailability through the use of multidisciplinary hydrogeologic data analysis. Data elements include population density, climate, snowpack, geology, mineralogy, surfacewater, ground water, water quality, isotopic information, and water use. Data were integrated through the use of conceptual ground-water-flow model analysis and provide information necessary to make improved water-resource planning and management decisions in the Kabul Basin. Ground water is currently obtained from a shallow, less than 100-m thick, highly productive aquifer. CFC, tritium, and stable hydrogen and oxygen isotopic analyses indicate that most water in the shallow aquifer appears to be recharged post 1970 by snowmelt-supplied river leakage and secondarily by late winter precipitation. Analyses indicate that increasing withdrawals are likely to result in declining water levels and may cause more than 50 percent of shallow supply wells to become dry or inoperative particularly in urbanized areas. The water quality in the shallow aquifer is deteriorated in urban areas by poor sanitation and wateravailability concerns may be compounded by poor well

Full Text Available Joint assessment of groundwater-surfacewater resources can help develop sustainable regional water management plans for intensive agriculture. In this study, we estimated allowable groundwater and surfacewater quantities using a water balance model, WetSpass-GMS, for the Sanjiang Plain (10.9 × 104 km2, one of the most important grain production bases in China. We then applied a double control based on the groundwater availability and the concept of an ecologically ideal shallow groundwater depth (EISGD to three different water use scenarios: (A continuation of the current water use management; (B maximal use of water resources under a double control; and (C irrigation of 266.7 × 104 hectares that are suitable for rice cultivation. We found an annual allowable surfacewater quantity of 4.71 billion cubic meters for the region and an annual exploitable groundwater quantity of 4.65 billion cubic meters under full consideration of water requirements, i.e., sustaining river base flow, necessary riverine sediment transport, and ecological water supplies for wetlands and reservoirs. Our simulation results showed that for Scenario A, groundwater level in the region would continue falling, and that the groundwater levels in wet, normal and dry years would drop below the EISGD level in 2028, 2023 and 2019, respectively. For Scenario B, groundwater and surfacewater would be able to support rice paddies of 219.7 × 104 hectares, 212.7 × 104 hectares, and 209.3 × 104 hectares during wet, normal and dry years, respectively. For Scenario C, future demands on groundwater and surfacewater under wet, dry and normal years would all exceed their allowable supplies. Overall, this study indicates that integrated management plans promoting an increase of surfacewater use and a reduction in irrigation with groundwater should be developed for sustainable agriculture and ecological preservation on the Sanjiang Plain.

Full Text Available Wadi Rajil catchment area is considered as one of the major wadis entering the Azraq Basin from the north. It is ungauged wadi and covers an area of about 3910km2. The annual average rainfall on Wadi Rajil catchment area is about 126.6mm. Heavy thunderstorms occur in April and May, causing significant floods covering the area. The flood waters are not utilized, and a small portion infiltrates into the ground, where the great portion of these waters remain over Qaa’ Azraqfew months before evaporation. Due to the absence of the hydrometric stream flow station, no data are available about surfacewater runoff in Wadi Rajil catchment area. Therefore, the first part of this study calculates the surfacewater potential of Wadi Rajil to be utilized for groundwater artificial recharge, applying the SCS curvilinear synthetic unit hydrograph method. The synthesis unit hydrograph of Wadi Rajil catchment is characterized by a peak value of 1146 m3/s (4047 cfs per one inch of rainfall excess. Flood hydrographs for 10,25,50, and 100 years return periods were derived and their peak flow are found to be 10,8,186,412, and 680 m3/s, respectively and the corresponding flood volumes are 0.95, 16.53, 36.89, and 61.5 MCM, respectively.Groundwater artificial recharge conditions are suitably prevailing in the most northern and central part of the catchment area, whereas, geological, Hydrogeological, and water quality characteristics of the floodwater encourage artificial replenishment of the exploited aquifer in the study area.

The major challenge for achieving a sustainable future for water resources and water security is the integration of wateravailability, water quality and water governance. Water is unevenly distributed on Planet Earth and these disparities are cause of several economic, ecological and social differences in the societies of many countries and regions. As a consequence of human misuse, growth of urbanization and soil degradation, water quality is deteriorating continuously. Key components for the maintenance of water quantity and water quality are the vegetation cover of watersheds, reduction of the demand and new water governance that includes integrated management, predictive evaluation of impacts, and ecosystem services. Future research needs are discussed.

The degradation rate of plant protection products and their transformation products in surfacewater and sediment may influence their concentrations in Dutch surfacewater. Therefore the estimation of these rates may be an important part of the assessment of the exposure of aquatic organisms. We

Highlights: • Woody thin boards were formed by adequate ratio of lignin/cellulose/moisture. • Component ratio of lignin/cellulose/moisture determined water repellency. • Increase of water repellency resulted from the surface orientation of lignin. - Abstract: Woody thin boards were prepared from lignin, cellulose, and water by compression molding at 180 °C and 25 MPa for 10 min. Boards with higher contact angles gave lower values of relative permittivity on their surface. Attenuated-total reflection Fourier transfer infrared spectroscopy suggested that more lignin existed on the surface of the boards with the high contact angle, which was also supported by scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Our findings thus revealed that the orientation of lignin at the surface resulted in increased hydrophobicity of the surface and contributed to the enhancement of water repellency.

Food security is directly linked to water security for food production. Wateravailability for crop production will be dependent upon precipitation or irrigation, soil water holding capacity, and crop water demand. The linkages among these components in rainfed agricultural systems shows the impact ...

Vegetation is water limited in large areas of Spain and therefore a close link exists between vegetation greenness observed from satellite and moisture availability. Here we exploit this link to infer spatial and temporal variability in moisture from MODIS NDVI data and thermal data. Discrepancies in the precipitation - vegetation relationship indicate areas with an alternative supply of water (i.e. not rainfall), this can be natural where moisture is supplied by upwelling groundwater, or can be artificial where crops are irrigated. As a result spatial and temporal variability in vegetation in the La Mancha Plain appears closely linked to topography, geology, rainfall and land use. Crop land shows large variability in year-to-year vegetation greenness; for some areas this variability is linked to variability in rainfall but in other cases this variability is linked to irrigation. The differences in irrigation treatment within one plant functional type, in this case crops, will lead to errors in land surface models when ignored. The magnitude of these effects on the energy, carbon and water balance are assessed at the scale of 250 m to 200 km. Estimating the water balance correctly is of particular important since in some areas in Spain more water is used for irrigation than is supplemented by rainfall.

SummaryNatural salt pollution from geologic formations in the upper watersheds of several large river basins in the Southwestern United States severely constrains the use of otherwise available major water supply sources. The Water Rights Analysis Package modeling system has been routinely applied in Texas since the late 1990s in regional and statewide planning studies and administration of the state's water rights permit system, but without consideration of water quality. The modeling system was recently expanded to incorporate salinity considerations in assessments of river/reservoir system capabilities for supplying water for environmental, municipal, agricultural, and industrial needs. Salinity loads and concentrations are tracked through systems of river reaches and reservoirs to develop concentration frequency statistics that augment flow frequency and water supply reliability metrics at pertinent locations for alternative water management strategies. Flexible generalized capabilities are developed for using limited observed salinity data to model highly variable concentrations imposed upon complex river regulation infrastructure and institutional water allocation/management practices.

This section of the 1994 Hanford Site Environmental Report summarizes the Surfacewater on and near the Hanford Site is monitored to determine the potential effects of Hanford operations. Surfacewater at Hanford includes the Columbia River, riverbank springs, ponds located on the Hanford Site, and offsite water systems directly east and across the Columbia River from the Hanford Site, and offsite water systems directly east and across the Columbia River from the Hanford Site. Columbia River sediments are also included in this discussion. Tables 5.3.1 and 5.3.2 summarize the sampling locations, sample types, sampling frequencies, and sample analyses included in surface-water surveillance activities during 1994. Sample locations are also identified in Figure 5.3.1. This section describes the surveillance effort and summarizes the results for these aquatic environments. Detailed analytical results are reported by Bisping (1995).

Wateravailability has become a high priority in the United States, in large part because competition for water is becoming more intense across the Nation. Population growth in many areas competes with demands for water to support irrigation and power production. Cities, farms, and power plants compete for water needed by aquatic ecosystems to support their minimum flow requirements. At the same time, naturally occurring and human-related contaminants from chemical use, land use, and wastewater and industrial discharge are introduced into our waters and diminish its quality. The fact that degraded quality limits the availability and suitability of water for critical uses is a well-known reality in many communities. What may be less understood, but equally true, is that our everyday use of water can significantly affect water quality, and thus its availability. Landscape features (such as geology, soils, and vegetation) along with water-use practices (such as ground-water withdrawals and irrigation) govern wateravailability because, together, they affect the movement of chemical compounds over the land and in the subsurface. Understanding the interactions of human activities with natural sources and the landscape is critical to effectively managing water and sustaining wateravailability in the future.

In the Western United States, the availability of water has become a serious concern for many communities and rural areas. Near population centers, surface-water supplies are fully appropriated, and many communities are dependent upon ground water drawn from storage, which is an unsustainable strategy. Water of acceptable quality is increasingly hard to find because local sources are allocated to prior uses, depleted by overpumping, or diminished by drought stress. Some of the inherent characteristics of the West add complexity to the task of securing water supplies. The Western States, including the arid Southwest, have the most rapid population growth in the United States. The climate varies widely in the West, but it is best known for its low precipitation, aridity, and drought. There is evidence that the climate is warming, which will have consequences for Western water supplies, such as increased minimum streamflow and earlier snowmelt events in snow-dominated basins. The potential for departures from average climatic conditions threatens to disrupt society and local to regional economies. The appropriative rights doctrine governs the management of water in most Western States, although some aspects of the riparian doctrine are being incorporated. The 'use it or lose it' provisions of Western water law discourage conservation and make the reallocation of water to instream environmental uses more difficult. The hydrologic sciences have defined the interconnectedness of ground water and surfacewater, yet these resources are still administered separately by most States. The definition of wateravailability has been expanded to include sustaining riparian ecosystems and individual endangered species, which are disproportionately represented in the Western States. Federal reserved rights, common in the West because of the large amount of Federal land, exist with quite senior priority dates whether or not water is currently being used. A major challenge for water

Surfacewater in Hawaii is a valued resource as well as a potential threat to human lives and property. The surface-water resources of Hawaii are of significant economic, ecologic, cultural, and aesthetic importance. Streams supply more than 50 percent of the irrigation water in Hawaii, and although streams supply only a few percent of the drinking water statewide, surfacewater is the main source of drinking water in some places. Streams also are a source of hydroelectric power, provide important riparian and instream habitats for many unique native species, support traditional and customary Hawaiian gathering rights and the practice of taro cultivation, and possess valued aesthetic qualities. Streams affect the physical, chemical, and aesthetic quality of receiving waters, such as estuaries, bays, and nearshore waters, which are critical to the tourism-based economy of the islands. Streams in Hawaii pose a danger because of their flashy nature; a stream's stage, or water level, can rise several feet in less than an hour during periods of intense rainfall. Streams in Hawaii are flashy because rainfall is intense, drainage basins are small, basins and streams are steep, and channel storage is limited. Streamflow generated during periods of heavy rainfall has led to loss of property and human lives in Hawaii. Most Hawaiian streams originate in the mountainous interiors of the islands and terminate at the coast. Streams are significant sculptors of the Hawaiian landscape because of the erosive power of the water they convey. In geologically young areas, such as much of the southern part of the island of Hawaii, well-defined stream channels have not developed because the permeability of the surface rocks generally is so high that rainfall infiltrates before flowing for significant distances on the surface. In geologically older areas that have received significant rainfall, streams and mass wasting have carved out large valleys.

Analysis of numerous low carbon electricity strategies have been shown to have very divergent water requirements, normally needed for cooling of thermoelectric power stations. Our regional river-basin scale analysis of water use for future UK electricity strategies shows that, whilst in the majority of cases freshwater use is expected to decline, pathways with high levels of carbon capture and storage (CCS) will result in significantly elevated and concentrated water demands in a few key river basins. Furthermore, these growing demands are compared to both current wateravailability, and our expected regional wateravailability under the impacts of climate change. We identify key freshwater constraints to electricity strategies with high levels of CCS and show how these risks may be mitigated with higher levels of hybrid cooling and alternative cooling water sources.

Fresh water is a critical resource for humanity and the ecosystem. In general, water resources can be partitioned into two major categories: blue water and green water (Falkenmark and Rockström 2006). Precipitation that runs off or percolates into the deep aquifer is defined as blue water, and precipitation that filtrates into soil, which eventually returns to the atmosphere as evaporation, is called green water (Hoekstra et al. 2011). For human purposes, green water is almost exclusively used for agricultural production, but blue water can be used for multiple competing sectors, such as irrigation and municipal water.

The physical and economic availability of land and water resources for energy farming were determined. Ten water subbasins possessing favorable land and wateravailabilities were ranked according to their overall potential for biomass production. The study results clearly identify the Southeast as a favorable area for biomass farming. The Northwest and North-Central United States should also be considered on the basis of their highly favorable environmental characteristics. Both high and low estimates of wateravailability for 1985 and 2000 in each of 99 subbasins were prepared. Subbasins in which surfacewater consumption was more than 50% of surfacewater supply were eliminated from the land availability analysis, leaving 71 subbasins to be examined. The amount of acreage potentially available for biomass production in these subbasins was determined through a comparison of estimated average annual net returns developed for conventional agriculture and forestry with net returns for several biomass production options. In addition to a computerized method of ranking subbasins according to their overall potential for biomass production, a methodology for evaluating future energy farm locations was developed. This methodology included a general area selection procedure as well as specific site analysis recommendations. Thirty-five general factors and a five-step site-specific analysis procedure are described.

In the present study, we developed a catchment hydrological model which can be used to inform water resources planning and decision making for better management of the Migina Catchment (257.4 km2). The semi-distributed hydrological model HEC-HMS (Hydrologic Engineering Center – the Hydrologic

In the present study, we developed a catchment hydrological model which can be used to inform water resources planning and decision making for better management of the Migina Catchment (257.4 km2). The semi-distributed hydrological model HEC-HMS (Hydrologic Engineering Center – the Hydrologic Modell

In this paper, we summarize the main results obtained in our group about the behavior of water confined inside or close to different graphene surfaces by means of molecular dynamics simulations. These include the inside and outside of carbon nanotubes, and the confinement inside a slit pore or a single graphene sheet. We paid special attention to some thermodynamical (binding energies), structural (hydrogen-bond distributions) and dynamic (infrared spectra) properties, and their comparison to their bulk counterparts.

US Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior — Conclusions to evaluation: Water supply appears to be adequate for present and future water requirements. The legality of South Fork Pit River diversions and the...

Wateravailability plays an important role in the socio-economic development of a region. It is however, subject to the influence of large-scale circulation indices, resulting in periodic excesses and deficits. An assessment of the degree of correlation between climate indices and wateravailability, and the quantification of changes with respect to major climate events is important for long-term water resources planning and management, especially in transboundary basins as it can help in conflict avoidance. In this study we first establish the correlation of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) with gauged precipitation in the Rio Grande basin, and quantify the changes in wateravailability using runoff generated from the Noah land surface model. Both spatial and temporal variations are noted, with winter and spring being most influenced by conditions in the Pacific Ocean. Negative correlation is observed at the headwaters and positive correlation across the rest of the basin. The influence of individual ENSO events, classified using four different criteria, is also examined. El Ninos (La Ninas) generally cause an increase (decrease) in runoff, but the pattern is not consistent; percentage change in wateravailability varies across events. Further, positive PDO enhances the effect of El Nino and dampens that of La Nina, but during neutral/transitioning PDO, La Nina dominates meteorological conditions. Long El Ninos have more influence on wateravailability than short duration high intensity events. We also note that the percentage increase during El Ninos significantly offsets the drought-causing effect of La Ninas.

Full Text Available To design a mobile system for surfacewater filtrationMethodology: the filtration of surface impurities begins with their retraction to concentrated thickness using non ionising surfactants, then isolation using surface tension property and sedimentation of impurities in process chamber using electrocoagulation. Result:following studies done to determine the rate of spreading of crude oil on water a method for retraction of spread crude oil to concentrated volumes is developed involving addition of non -ionising surfactants in contrast to use of dispersants. Electrocoagulation process involves multiple processes taking place to lead to depositionof impurities such as oil, grease, metals. Studies of experiments conducted reveals parameters necessary for design of electrocoagulation process chamber though a holistic approach towards system designing is still required. Propeller theory is used in determining the required design of propeller and the desired thrust, the overall structure will finally contribute in deciding the choice of propeller.

Food production requires a lot of water, and traded food potentially has external impacts on environment through reducing the wateravailability in the producing region. Water footprint is supposed to be an indicator to reflect the impacts of water use. However, impacts of water use on environment, resource, and sustainability are different in place and time, and according to the sources of water withdrawals. Therefore it is preferable to characterize the water withdrawals or consumptions rather than just accumulate the total amount of water use when estimating water footprint. In this study, a new methodology, global green-water equivalent method, is proposed in which regional characterization factors are determined based on the estimates of natural hydrological cycles, such as precipitation, total runoff, and sub-surface runoff, and applied for green-water, river(+reservoir) water, and non-renewable ground water uses. Water footprint of the world associated with the production of 19 major crops was estimated using an integrated hydrological and water resources modeling system (H08), with atmospheric forcing data for 1991-2000 with spatial resolution of 0.5 by 0.5 longitudinal and latitudinal degrees. The impacts is estimated to be 6 times larger than the simple summation of green and blue water uses, and reflect the climatological water scarcity conditions geographically. The results can be used to compare the possible impacts of food trade associated with various crops from various regions on environment through reducing the availability of water resources in the cropping area.

Full Text AvailableWater is an increasingly important and why it is important to surfacewater quality, which is given by the analysis of physical - chemical, biological andobserving the investigation of water, biota, environments investigation. Analysis ofthe Prut river in terms of biological and physical elements - chemical. Evaluationof ecological and chemical status of water was done according to order of approvalof the standard classification nr.161/2006 surfacewater to determine the ecologicalstatus of water bodies

Full Text Available The study aims to detect ground wateravailability at Buhias Island, Siau Timur Selatan District, Sitaro Regency. The research method used the survey method by geoelectrical instrument based on subsurface rock resistivity as a geophysical exploration results with geoelectrical method of Wenner-Schlumberger configuration. Resistivity geoelectrical method is done by injecting a flow into the earth surface, then it is measured the potential difference. This study consists of 4 tracks in which each track is made the stretch model of soil layer on subsurface of ground. Then, the exploration results were processed using software RES2DINV to look at the data of soil layer based on the value of resistivity (2D. Interpretation result of the track 1 to 4 concluded that there is a layer of ground water. State of dominant ground water contains the saline (brackish. Location of trajectory in the basin to the lowland areas is mostly mangrove swamp vegetation. That location is the junction between the results of the runoff of rainfall water that falls down from the hills with sea water. Bedrock as a constituent of rock layer formed from marine sediments that carry minerals salts.

Rough surfaces immersed under water remain practically dry if the liquid-solid contact is on roughness peaks, while the roughness valleys are filled with gas. Mechanisms that prevent water from invading the valleys are well studied. However, to remain practically dry under water, additional...... mechanisms need consideration. This is because trapped gas (e.g. air) in the roughness valleys can dissolve into the water pool, leading to invasion. Additionally, water vapor can also occupy the roughness valleys of immersed surfaces. If water vapor condenses, that too leads to invasion. These effects have...... not been investigated, and are critically important to maintain surfaces dry under water.In this work, we identify the critical roughness scale, below which it is possible to sustain the vapor phase of water and/or trapped gases in roughness valleys – thus keeping the immersed surface dry. Theoretical...

Rough surfaces immersed under water remain practically dry if the liquid-solid contact is on roughness peaks, while the roughness valleys are filled with gas. Mechanisms that prevent water from invading the valleys are well studied. However, to remain practically dry under water, additional mechanisms need consideration. This is because trapped gas (e.g. air) in the roughness valleys can dissolve into the water pool, leading to invasion. Additionally, water vapor can also occupy the roughness valleys of immersed surfaces. If water vapor condenses, that too leads to invasion. These effects have not been investigated, and are critically important to maintain surfaces dry under water. In this work, we identify the critical roughness scale, below which it is possible to sustain the vapor phase of water and/or trapped gases in roughness valleys - thus keeping the immersed surface dry. Theoretical predictions are consistent with molecular dynamics simulations and experiments.

With regard to the adverse manifestations of the recent climatic conditions, Europe as well as the world have been facing the problem of dry periods that reduce the possibility of drawing drinking water from the underground sources. The paper aims to describe artificial ground water recharge (infiltration) that may be used to restock underground sources with surfacewater from natural streams. Among many conditions, it aims to specify the boundary and operational conditions of the individual aspects of the artificial ground water recharge technology. The principle of artificial infiltration lies in the design of a technical system, by means of which it is possible to conduct surplus water from one place (in this case a natural stream) into another place (an infiltration basin in this case). This way, the water begins to infiltrate into the underground resources of drinking water, while the mixed water composition corresponds to the water parameters required for drinking water.

The water-quantity and water-quality data for the Fraser River watershed through water year 1997 were compiled for ground-water and surface-water sites. In order to assess the water-quality data, the data were related to land use/land cover in the watershed. Data from 81 water-quantity and water-quality sites, which consisted of 9 ground-water sites and 72 surface-water sites, were available for analysis. However, the data were limited and frequently contained only one or two water-quality analyses per site.The Fraser River flows about 28 miles from its headwaters at the Continental Divide to the confluence with the Colorado River. Ground-water resources in the watershed are used for residential and municipal drinking-water supplies. Surfacewater is available for use, but water diversions in the upper parts of the watershed reduce the flow in the river. Land use/land cover in the watershed is predominantly forested land, but increasing urban development has the potential to affect the quantity and quality of the water resources.Analysis of the limited ground-water data in the watershed indicates that changes in the land use/land cover affect the shallow ground-water quality. Water-quality data from eight shallow monitoring wells in the alluvial aquifer show that iron and manganese concentrations exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency secondary maximum contaminant level. Radon concentrations from these monitoring wells exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed maximum contaminant level. The proposed radon contaminant level is currently being revised. The presence of volatile organic compounds at two monitoring wells in the watershed indicates that land use affects the shallow ground water. In addition, bacteria detected in three samples are at concentrations that would be a concern for public health if the water was to be used as a drinking supply. Methylene blue active substances were detected in the ground water at some sites and are a

This review provides an overview of Water Research Commission (WRC)-funded research over the past 36 years. A total .... Management strategies and water balance measurements made to ...... Development in Africa and Asia, 14 to 16 July 2009, Göttingen,. Germany. ... Plots in the Central Region of South Africa.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Excess phosphorus in surfacewater can result in eutrophication. TOTALP is reported in kilograms/hectare/year. More information about these resources, including the...

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Excess nitrogen in surfacewater can result in eutrophication. TOTALN is reported in kilograms/hectare/year. More information about these resources, including the...

Tertiary sedimentary rocks in the Pend Oreille River valley were investigated in a regional study to determine the favorability for potential uranium resources of northeastern Washington. This project involved measurement and sampling of surface sections, collection of samples from isolated outcrops, chemical and mineralogical analyses of samples, and examination of availablewater well logs. The Box Canyon Dam area north of Ione is judged to have very high favorability. Thick-bedded conglomerates interbedded with sandstones and silty sandstones compose the Tiger Formation in this area, and high radioactivity levels are found near the base of the formation. Uranophane is found along fracture surfaces or in veins. Carbonaceous material is present throughout the Tiger Formation in the area. Part of the broad Pend Oreille valley surrounding Cusick, Washington, is an area of high favorability. Potential host rocks in the Tiger Formation, consisting of arkosic sandstones interbedded with radioactive shales, probably extend throughout the subsurface part of this area. Carbonaceous material is present and some samples contain high concentrations of uranium. In addition, several other possible chemical indicators were found. The Tiger-Lost Creek area is rated as having medium favorability. The Tiger Formation contains very hard, poorly sorted granite conglomerate with some beds of arkosic sandstone and silty sandstone. The granite conglomerate was apparently derived from source rocks having relatively high uranium content. The lower part of the formation is more favorable than the upper part because of the presence of carbonaceous material, anomalously high concentrations of uranium, and other possible chemical indicators. The area west of Ione is judged to have low favorability, because of the very low permeability of the rocks and the very low uranium content. (auth)

of sugars, salts, and surfactants impact the water relaxation time. Systems with high concentrations of sugars and salts tend to have low wateravailability, as these form strong interactions with water to keep their solubility, leaving less wateravailable for hydrolysis. Thus, cellulase performance...... to measure properties of the liquid phase, where water protons are characterized based on their mobility in the system as measured by their relaxation time. Studies of cellulose hydrolysis at low dry matter show that the contents of the liquid phase influence the final hydrolysis yield, as the presence...

Soil moisture varies within landscapes in response to vegetative, physiographic, and climatic drivers, which makes quantifying soil moisture over time and space difficult. Nevertheless, understanding soil moisture dynamics for different ecosystems is critical, as the amount of water in a soil determines a myriad ecosystem services and processes such as net primary productivity, runoff, microbial decomposition, and soil fertility. We investigated the patterns and variability in in situ soil moisture measurements converted to plant-availablewater across time and space under different vegetative cover types and topographic positions at the Marcell Experimental Forest (Minnesota, USA). From 0 – 228.6 cm soil depth, plant-availablewater was significantly higher under the hardwoods (12%), followed by the aspen (8%) and red pine (5%) cover types. Across the same soil depth, toeslopes were wetter (mean plant-availablewater = 10%) than ridges and backslopes (mean plant-availablewater was 8%), although these differences were not statistically significant (p plant-availablewater and that topography was not significantly related to plant-availablewater within this low-relief landscape. Additionally, during the three-year monitoring period, red pine and quaking aspen sites experienced plant-availablewater levels that may be considered limiting to plant growth and function. Given that increasing temperatures and more erratic precipitation patterns associated with climate change may result in decreased soil moisture in this region, these species may be sensitive and vulnerable to future shifts in climate.

The past few decades has seen massive efforts to increasing provision of domestic water. However, water is still unavailable to many people most of them located in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and East Asia. Furthermore, availability of water varies greatly both spatially and temporary. While other people pay so dearly for domestic water others have an easy access to adequate clean water and sanitation. Accessibility and affordability of domestic water and sanitation is determined by a great variety of factors including socioeconomic status of households. The main objective of the paper is to inform on factors which need to be taken into account when coming up with projects to provide domestic water. It is more critical when the issue of water pricing comes into the equation. Water pricing has many facets, including equity, willingness to pay and affordability. In this premise, it is deemed important to understand the socioeconomic characteristics of the people before deciding on the amount of money they will have to pay for water consumption. It is argued that understanding people’s socioeconomic situation will greatly help to ensure that principles of sustainability and equity in water allocation and pricing are achieved. To do so, the paper utilized 2002 South Africa General Household Survey (GHS), to analyze socioeconomic variables and availability of domestic water. Analysis was mainly descriptive. However, logistic regression analysis was also utilized to determine the likelihood of living in a household that obtain water from a safe source. The study found that there is a strong relationship between availability of domestic water and socioeconomic conditions. Economic status, household size and to a lesser extent gender of head of household were found to be strong predictors of living in a household which obtained water from a safe source. The paper recommends that needs and priorities for interventions in water provision should take into account

Full Text Available The knowledge on the spatial distribution of soil availablewater capacity at a regional or national extent is essential, as soil water capacity is a component of the water and energy balances in the terrestrial ecosystem. It controls the evapotranspiration rate, and has a major impact on climate. This paper demonstrates a protocol for mapping soil availablewater capacity in South Korea at a fine scale using data available from surveys. The procedures combined digital soil mapping technology with the available soil map of 1:25,000. We used the modal profile data from the Taxonomical Classification of Korean Soils. The data consist of profile description along with physical and chemical analysis for the modal profiles of the 380 soil series. However not all soil samples have measured bulk density and water content at −10 and −1500 kPa. Thus they need to be predicted using pedotransfer functions. Furthermore, water content at −10 kPa was measured using ground samples. Thus a correction factor is derived to take into account the effect of bulk density. Results showed that Andisols has the highest mean water storage capacity, followed by Entisols and Inceptisols which have loamy texture. The lowest water retention is Entisols which are dominated by sandy materials. Profile availablewater capacity to a depth of 1 m was calculated and mapped for Korea. The western part of the country shows higher availablewater capacity than the eastern part which is mountainous and has shallower soils. The highest water storage capacity soils are the Ultisols and Alfisols (mean of 206 and 205 mm, respectively. Validation of the maps showed promising results. The map produced can be used as an indication of soil physical quality of Korean soils.

The exchange of groundwater-surfacewater has been invetigated in the western part of Denmark. Holtum AA provides the framework for all the performed investigations. Several methods are used, primarily eld based measurements ombined with numerical models to achieve insight to the governing...... processes of interaction between groundwater and surfacewater. By using heat as a tracer it has been possible to use temperature directly as calibrationtargets in a groundwater and heat transport model. Thus, it is possible to use heat investigate the change in groundwater discharge in dynamic conditions...... by using simple temperature devices along a stream to delineate the areas of interest in regard to GW{SW exchange. Thus, at several locations in a stream a temperature data logger was placed in the water column and right at the streambed-water interface. By looking at the correlation of streambed...

The exchange of groundwater-surfacewater has been invetigated in the western part of Denmark. Holtum AA provides the framework for all the performed investigations. Several methods are used, primarily eld based measurements ombined with numerical models to achieve insight to the governing...... processes of interaction between groundwater and surfacewater. By using heat as a tracer it has been possible to use temperature directly as calibrationtargets in a groundwater and heat transport model. Thus, it is possible to use heat investigate the change in groundwater discharge in dynamic conditions...... by using simple temperature devices along a stream to delineate the areas of interest in regard to GW{SW exchange. Thus, at several locations in a stream a temperature data logger was placed in the water column and right at the streambed-water interface. By looking at the correlation of streambed...

The knowledge on the spatial distribution of soil availablewater capacity at a regional or national extent is essential, as soil water capacity is a component of the water and energy balances in the terrestrial ecosystem. It controls the evapotranspiration rate, and has a major impact on climate. This paper demonstrates a protocol for mapping soil availablewater capacity in South Korea at a fine scale using data available from surveys. The procedures combined digital soil mapping technology with the available soil map of 1:25,000. We used the modal profile data from the Taxonomical Classification of Korean Soils. The data consist of profile description along with physical and chemical analysis for the modal profiles of the 380 soil series. However not all soil samples have measured bulk density and water content at -10 and -1500 kPa. Thus they need to be predicted using pedotransfer functions. Furthermore, water content at -10 kPa was measured using ground samples. Thus a correction factor is derived to take into account the effect of bulk density. Results showed that Andisols has the highest mean water storage capacity, followed by Entisols and Inceptisols which have loamy texture. The lowest water retention is Entisols which are dominated by sandy materials. Profile availablewater capacity to a depth of 1 m was calculated and mapped for Korea. The western part of the country shows higher availablewater capacity than the eastern part which is mountainous and has shallower soils. The highest water storage capacity soils are the Ultisols and Alfisols (mean of 206 and 205 mm, respectively). Validation of the maps showed promising results. The map produced can be used as an indication of soil physical quality of Korean soils.

This report presents the preliminary results of an analysis of China`s water resources, part of an effort undertaken by the National Intelligence Council Medea scientists to improve the understanding of future food production and consumption in the People`s Republic of China. A dynamic water model was developed to simulate the hydrological budgetary processes in five river drainage basins located in northeastern, central, and southern China: the Chang Jiang (Yangtse River), Huanghe (Yellow River), Haihe, Huaihe, and Liaohe. The model was designed to assess the effects of changes in urban, industrial, and agricultural water use requirements on the availability of water in each basin and to develop estimates of the water surpluses and/or deficits in China through the year 2025. The model imposes a sustainable yield constraint, that is, groundwater extraction is not allowed to exceed the sustainable yield; if the availablewater does not meet the total water use requirements, a deficit results. An agronomic model was also developed to generate projections of the water required to service China`s agricultural sector and compare China`s projected grain production with projected grain consumption requirements to estimate any grain surplus and/or deficit. In future refinements, the agronomic model will interface directly with the water model to provide for the exchange of information on projected water use requirements and availablewater. The preliminary results indicate that the Chang Jiang basin will have a substantial surplus of water through 2025 and that the Haihe basin is in an ongoing situation. The agricultural water use requirements based on grain production indicate that an agricultural water deficit in the Haihe basin begins before the onset of the modeling period (1980) and steadily worsens through 2025. This assumption is confirmed by reports that groundwater mining is already under way in the most intensely cultivated and populated areas of northern China.

Research on water scarcity has mainly focussed on blue water (ground- and surfacewater), but green water (soil moisture returning to the atmosphere through evaporation) is also scarce, because its availability is limited and there are competing demands for green water. Crop production, grazing lands, forestry and terrestrial ecosystems are all sustained by green water. The implicit distribution or explicit allocation of limited green water resources over competitive demands determines which economic and environmental goods and services will be produced and may affect food security and nature conservation. We need to better understand green water scarcity to be able to measure, model, predict and handle it. This paper reviews and classifies around 80 indicators of green wateravailability and scarcity, and discusses the way forward to develop operational green water scarcity indicators that can broaden the scope of water scarcity assessments.

Assessment of wateravailability and demand in Lake Guiers, SenegalWater resources are critical to economic growth and social development. In most African countries, supply of drinking water to satisfy population needs is a key issue because of population growth and climate and land use change. During the last three decades, increasing population, changing patterns of water demand, and concentration of population and economic activities in urban areas has pressurize Senegal's freshwater resources. To overcome this deficit, Senegal turned, to the exploitation of the Lake Guiers. It is the sole water reservoir which can be used extensively as a stable freshwater. Its water is use for irrigating crops and sugar refinery and as a drinking water resource for urban centres, including Dakar, the capital city of Senegal, as well as for the local population and animal herds. To ensure sustainability, a greater understanding of Lake Guiers's water resources and effective management of its use will be required. In this study we developed and quantified future water situation (wateravailability and demand) in Lake Guiers under scenarios of climate change and population growth until 2050, using the water management model WEAP (Water Evaluation And Planning system). The results show that the pressure on Lake Guiers's water resources will increase, leading to greater competition between agriculture and municipal demand site. Decreasing inflows due to climate change will aggravate this situation. WEAP results offer basis to assister lake Guiers water resources manager for an efficient long-term planning and management. Keywords: climate change, population growth , IWRM, Lake Guiers, Senegal

This report provides an assessment of the consequences of changing wateravailability for production of drinking water, the manufacturing industry and power production in Europe, due to climate change and socio-economic developments. The report is based up on projections of demographic and

Under global warming, the annual range of precipitation is widening (Chou and Lan, 2012; Chou et al., 2013) and the frequency of precipitation extreme events also increases. Due to nonlinear responses of land hydrological process to precipitation extremes, runoff can increase exponentially, and on the hard hand, soil water storage may decline. In addition, IPCC AR5 indicates that soil moisture decreases in most areas under the global warming scenario. In this study, we use NCAR Community Land Model version 4 (CLM4) to simulate changes in terrestrial availablewater (TAW, defined as the precipitation minus evaporation minus runoff, and then divided by the precipitation) under global warming. Preliminary results show that the TAW has clear seasonal variations. Compared to previous studies, which do not include the runoff in the calculations of the availablewater, our estimates on the TAW has much less availablewater in high latitudes through out the year, especially under extreme precipitation events.

Turbidity imparts a great problem in water treatment. Moringa oleifera, Cicer arietinum, and Dolichos lablab were used as locally available natural coagulants in this study to reduce turbidity of synthetic water. The tests were carried out, using artificial turbid water with conventional jar test apparatus. Optimum mixing intensity and duration were determined. After dosing water-soluble extracts of Moringa oleifera, Cicer arietinum, and Dolichos lablab reduced turbidity to 5.9, 3.9, and 11.1 nephelometric turbidity unit (NTU), respectively, from 100 NTU and 5, 3.3, and 9.5, NTU, respectively, after dosing and filtration. Natural coagulants worked better with high, turbid, water compare to medium, or low, turbid, water. Highest turbidity reduction efficiency (95.89%) was found with Cicer arietinum. About 89 to 96% total coliform reduction were also found with natural coagulant treatment of turbid water. Using locally available natural coagulants, suitable, easier, and environment friendly options for water treatment were observed.

Soil Erosion and Land Degradation are closely related to the changes in the vegetation cover (Zhao et al., 2013). Although other factors such as rainfall intensiy or slope (Ziadat and Taimeh, 2013) the plant covers is the main factor that controls the soil erosion (Haregeweyn, 2013). Plant cover is the main factor of soil erosion processes as the vegetation control the infiltration and runoff generation (Cerdà, 1998a; Kargar Chigani et al., 2012). Vegetation cover acts in a complex way in influencing on the one hand on runoff and soil loss and on the other hand on the amount and the way that rainfall reaches the soil surface. In arid and semiarid regions, where erosion is one of the main degradation processes and water is a scant resource, a minimum percentage of vegetation coverage is necessary to protect the soil from erosion, but without compromising the availability of water (Belmonte Serrato and Romero Diaz, 1998). This is mainly controlled by the vegetation distribution (Cerdà, 1997a; Cammeraat et al., 2010; Kakembo et al., 2012). Land abandonment is common in Mediterranean region under extensive land use (Cerdà, 1997b; García-Ruiz, 2010). Abandoned lands typically have a rolling landscape with steep slopes, and are dominated by herbaceous communities that grow on pasture land interspersed by shrubs. Land abandonment use to trigger an increase in soil erosion, but the vegetation recovery reduces the impact of the vegetation. The goal of this work is to assess the effects of different Mediterranean shrub species (Dorycnium pentaphyllum Scop., Medicago strasseri, Colutea arborescens L., Retama sphaerocarpa, L., Pistacia Lentiscus L. and Quercus coccifera L.) on soil protection (runoff and soil losses) and on rainfall reaching soil surface (rainfall partitioning fluxes). To characterize the effects of shrub vegetation and to evaluate their effects on soil protection, two field experiments were carried out. The presence of shrub vegetation reduced runoff by

The surface of Mars once had abundant water flowing on its surface, but now there is a general perception that this surface is completely dry. Several lines of research have shown that there are sources of potentially large quantities of water at many locations on the surface, including regions considered as candidates for future human missions. Traditionally, system designs for these human missions are constrained to tightly recycle water and oxygen, and current resource utilization strategies involve ascent vehicle oxidizer production only. But the assumption of relatively abundant extant water may change this. Several scenarios were constructed to evaluate water requirements for human Mars expeditions to assess the impact to system design if locally produced water is available. Specifically, we have assessed water resources needed for 1) ascent vehicle oxidizer and fuel production, 2) open-loop water and oxygen life support requirements along with more robust usage scenarios, and 3) crew radiation protection augmentation. In this assessment, production techniques and the associated chemistry to transform Martian water and atmosphere into these useful commodities are identified, but production mass and power requirements are left to future analyses. The figure below illustrates the type of water need assessment performed and that will be discussed. There have been several sources of feedstock material discussed in recent literature that could be used to produce these quantities of water. This paper will focus on Mars surface features that resemble glacier-like forms on Earth. Several lines of evidence indicate that some of these features are in fact buried ice, likely remnants from an earlier ice age on Mars. This paper examines techniques and hardware systems used in the polar regions of Earth to access this buried ice and withdraw water from it. These techniques and systems will be described to illustrate options available. A technique known as a Rodriguez Well

Full Text Available The plant-availablewater capacity of the soil is defined as the water content between field capacity and wilting point, and has wide practical application in planning the land use. In a representative profile of the Cerrado Oxisol, methods for estimating the wilting point were studied and compared, using a WP4-T psychrometer and Richards chamber for undisturbed and disturbed samples. In addition, the field capacity was estimated by the water content at 6, 10, 33 kPa and by the inflection point of the water retention curve, calculated by the van Genuchten and cubic polynomial models. We found that the field capacity moisture determined at the inflection point was higher than by the other methods, and that even at the inflection point the estimates differed, according to the model used. By the WP4-T psychrometer, the water content was significantly lower found the estimate of the permanent wilting point. We concluded that the estimation of the availablewater holding capacity is markedly influenced by the estimation methods, which has to be taken into consideration because of the practical importance of this parameter.

This study examined the availability of free drinking water during lunchtime in US public schools, as required by federal legislation beginning in the 2011-2012 school year. Data were collected by mail-back surveys in nationally representative samples of US public elementary, middle, and high schools from 2009-2010 to 2011-2012. Overall, 86.4%, 87.4%, and 89.4% of students attended elementary, middle, and high schools, respectively, that met the drinking water requirement. Most students attended schools with existing cafeteria drinking fountains and about one fourth attended schools with water dispensers. In middle and high schools, respondents were asked to indicate whether drinking fountains were clean, and whether they were aware of any water-quality problems at the school. The vast majority of middle and high school students (92.6% and 90.4%, respectively) attended schools where the respondent perceived drinking fountains to be clean or very clean. Approximately one in four middle and high school students attended a school where the survey respondent indicated that there were water-quality issues affecting drinking fountains. Although most schools have implemented the requirement to provide free drinking water at lunchtime, additional work is needed to promote implementation at all schools. School nutrition staff at the district and school levels can play an important role in ensuring that schools implement the drinking water requirement, as well as promote education and behavior-change strategies to increase student consumption of water at school.

The availability of water resources is vital to the social and economic well being and rebuilding of Afghanistan. Kabul City currently (2010) has a population of nearly 4 million and is growing rapidly as a result of periods of relative security and the return of refugees. Population growth and recent droughts have placed new stresses on the city's limited water resources and have caused many wells to become contaminated, dry, or inoperable in recent years. The projected vulnerability of Central and West Asia to climate change (Cruz and others, 2007; Milly and others, 2005) and observations of diminishing glaciers in Afghanistan (Molnia, 2009) have heightened concerns for future wateravailability in the Kabul Basin of Afghanistan.

The extent to which a vertical trunk is differentiated from its branches is a key trait for the architecture of trees and may affect interspecific relationships. In this study, we analyzed the effect of soil wateravailability on biomass partitioning for Nothofagus pumilio by means of a nursery experiment. Juvenile trees were subject to three irrigation conditions: no irrigation, intermediate irrigation and high irrigation. Irrigation conditions emulated the mean precipitation of the most representative environments inhabited by N. pumilio. Changes in soil wateravailability modified the biomass partitioning patterns of trees. In comparison to the other two conditions, high irrigation caused: (1) higher ratio of biomass partitioning to stems than roots; (2) more trunk growth in relation to its branches; and (3) more photosynthetic organs relative to the aboveground biomass. Trunk size relative to that of its most recent branches was not increased by wateravailability. Wateravailability may play a significant role in the capacity of N. pumilio for space occupation due to the effects on axis differentiation. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Heavy metal contamination and drought are expected to increase in large areas worldwide. However, their combined effect on plant performance has been scantly analyzed. This study examines the effect of Zn supply at different wateravailabilities on morpho-physiological traits of Quercus suber L. in order to analyze the combined effects of both stresses. Seedlings were treated with four levels of zinc from 3 to 150 µM and exposed to low watering (LW) or high watering (HW) frequency in hydroponic culture, using a growth chamber. Under both watering regimes, Zn concentration in leaves and roots increased with Zn increment in nutrient solution. Nevertheless, at the highest Zn doses, Zn tissue concentrations were almost twice in HW than in LW seedlings. Functional traits as leaf photosynthetic rate and root hydraulic conductivity, and morphological traits as root length and root biomass decreased significantly in response to Zn supply. Auxin levels increased with Zn concentrations, suggesting the involvement of this phytohormone in the seedling response to this element. LW seedlings exposed to 150 µM Zn showed higher root length and root biomass than HW seedlings exposed to the same Zn dose. Our results suggest that low wateravailability could mitigate Zn toxicity by limiting internal accumulation. Morphological traits involved in the response to both stresses probably contributed to this response.

Determination of the water supply available in soils for crops is important for both the calculation of water balance and the prediction of water stress. An approach to calculations of availablewater content in layers of the root zone, depletion of water during growth, and water balance, with limited access to data on farms, is presented. Soil water retention was calculated with simple pedotransfer functions from the texture of soil layers, root depth, and depletion function were derived from observed data; and the potential evapotranspiration was calculated from the temperature. A comparison of the calculated and experimental soil water contents showed a reasonable fit.

The water molecules orientation has been investigated theoretically in the watersurface layer. The surface molecule orientation is determined by the direction of a molecule dipole moment in relation to outward normal to the watersurface. Entropy expressions of the superficial molecules in statistical meaning and from thermodynamical approach to a liquid surface tension have been found. The molecules share directed opposite to the outward normal that is hydrogen protons inside is equal 51.6%. 48.4% water molecules are directed along to surface outward normal that is by oxygen inside. A potential jump at the watersurface layer amounts about 0.2 volts.

In semi-arid Mongolia, continuous and discontinuous permafrost covers wide parts of the mountains, especially in the northwest of the country. Long-term analysis of annual discharge from rivers draining the mountainous parts shows high temporal variability, with some evidence of decreasing trends, accompanied by decreased intra-annual variability. Investigations show that annual precipitation features small changes while annual air temperature significantly increased over the last decades, with warming rates clearly outranging the global average. Widespread and drastic changes in land cover through forest fires in northern Mongolia might have an additional impact on water retention and the stability of permafrost. Hence, there is concern about an increased degradation of mountain permafrost and a possible impact on river discharge and wateravailability. Decreased wateravailability from the mountains would have strong socio-economic implications for the population living in the steppe belt downstream the mountains. Therefore, a monitoring program has been conducted in northern Mongolia that aims to improve the understanding of how climate change and forest fires are influencing mountain permafrost and water resources. The study region, Sugnugur valley, is located about 100 km north of Ulaanbaatar and includes the transition belt between the steppe, the boreal zone and the alpine tundra of the Khentii Mountains. Extensive measurements of soil temperatures, soil moisture, discharge and climatic parameters have been carried out along transects which stretch across the Sugnugur river valley and include steppe, boreal forest as well as burnt forest. First results indicate that the environmental conditions show drastic changes after forest fire, with reduced water retention in the headwaters. After forest fires, changing runoff processes above the permafrost table have been observed, where water drains rapidly along preferential flow paths. This eventually leads to

Understanding linkages between water and energy is critical during climate extremes, particularly droughts. With 40% reduction in per capita water storage since the 1980s, Texas is much more vulnerable to droughts now than in the past. Texas experienced the most extreme one year drought on record in 2011, with 60% reduction in precipitation and 40% reduction in reservoir storage relative to the long term mean. Power plants in Texas rely almost entirely on surfacewater for cooling. We evaluated water requirements for power plants based on fuel types and cooling technologies to assess their vulnerability to future droughts. Water demand was estimated for electricity generation using multiple sources, including Energy Information Agency, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and Texas Water Development Board. The following analysis reflects 2010 data; however, 2011 data will be analyzed as soon as they are made available. Analysis of 2010 data showed that Texas generated 411 million MWHr of electricity, mostly from natural gas (46%), coal (37%), nuclear (10%), and renewables (7%). Approximately 70% of net electricity generation in 2010 required water for cooling. Water consumption for electricity generation totaled 0.6 km3, which represents 3% of the states total water consumption in 2010 (22 km3). Water withdrawals totaled 28 km3; however, 97% of this water is returned to the system. Water consumption varies with fuel source (coal, natural gas, nuclear, renewables) and cooling system technology (once-through, pond, and recirculating tower). Coal plants accounted for the majority of water consumption in 2010, followed by natural gas, nuclear, and other. Water consumption varied by cooling system technology, with ponds accounting for most water consumption, followed by recirculating towers, and once-through cooling systems. The vulnerability of the different systems to drought was examined with water requirements for withdrawal and consumption relative to water

The terrestrial phase of the water cycle can be seriously impacted by water management and human water use behavior (e.g., reservoir operation, and irrigation withdrawals). Here we outline a method for assessing wateravailability in a changing climate, while explicitly considering anthropogenic water demand scenarios and water supply infrastructure designed to cope with climatic extremes. The framework brings a top-down and bottom-up approach to provide localized water assessment based on local water supply infrastructure and projected water demands. When our framework is applied to southeastern Australia we find that, for some combinations of climatic change and water demand, the region could experience water stress similar or worse than the epic Millennium Drought. We show considering only the influence of future climate on water supply, and neglecting future changes in water demand and water storage augmentation might lead to opposing perspectives on future wateravailability. While human water use can significantly exacerbate climate change impacts on wateravailability, if managed well, it allows societies to react and adapt to a changing climate. The methodology we present offers a unique avenue for linking climatic and hydrologic processes to water resource supply and demand management and other human interactions.

Temperature directly determines a range of water physical properties including vapour pressure, surface tension, density and viscosity, and the solubility of oxygen and other gases. Indirectly water temperature acts as a strong control on fresh water biogeochemistry, influencing sediment

Temperature directly determines a range of water physical properties including vapour pressure, surface tension, density and viscosity, and the solubility of oxygen and other gases. Indirectly water temperature acts as a strong control on fresh water biogeochemistry, influencing sediment concentrati

US Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior — The SurfaceWater Management Plan (SWMP) for Water Year 2003 (WY 2003) (October I, 2002 to September 30, 2003) is an assessment of the nonpotable water demands at...

US Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior — The SurfaceWater Management Plan for Water Year (WY) 2005 (October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2005) is an assessment of the nonpotable water demands at the Rocky...

US Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior — The SurfaceWater Management Plan for Water Year (WY) 2006 (October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006) is an assessment of the nonpotable water demands at the Rocky...

In an on-going effort to make human Mars missions more affordable and sustainable, NASA continues to investigate the innovative leveraging of technological advances in conjunction with the use of accessible Martian resources directly applicable to these missions. One of the resources with the broadest utility for human missions is water. Many past studies of human Mars missions assumed a complete lack of water derivable from local sources. However, recent advances in our understanding of the Martian environment provides growing evidence that Mars may be more "water rich" than previously suspected. This is based on data indicating that substantial quantities of water are mixed with surface regolith, bound in minerals located at or near the surface, and buried in large glacier-like forms. This paper describes an assessment of what could be done in a "water rich" human Mars mission scenario. A description of what is meant by "water rich" in this context is provided, including a quantification of the water that would be used by crews in this scenario. The different types of potential feedstock that could be used to generate these quantities of water are described, drawing on the most recently available assessments of data being returned from Mars. This paper specifically focuses on sources that appear to be buried quantities of water ice. (An assessment of other potential feedstock materials is documented in another paper.) Technologies and processes currently used in terrestrial Polar Regions are reviewed. One process with a long history of use on Earth and with potential application on Mars - the Rodriguez Well - is described and results of an analysis simulating the performance of such a well on Mars are presented. These results indicate that a Rodriguez Well capable of producing the quantities of water identified for a "water rich" human mission are within the capabilities assumed to be available on the Martian surface, as envisioned in other comparable Evolvable

Under current US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules, small onshore oil producers are allowed to discharge produced water to surfacewaters with approval from state agencies; but small onshore gas producers, however, are prohibited from discharging produced water to surfacewaters. The purpose of this report is to identify those states that allow surfacewater discharges from small onshore oil operations and to summarize the types of permitting controls they use. It is intended that the findings of this report will serve as a rationale to encourage the EPA to revise its rules and to remove the prohibition on surfacewater discharges from small gas operations.

The Central Valley is a broad alluvial-filled structural trough that covers about 52,000 square kilometers and is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. Because the valley is semi-arid and the availability of surfacewater varies substantially from year to year, season to season, and from north to south, agriculture developed a reliance on groundwater for irrigation. During recent drought periods (2007-09 and 2012-present), groundwater pumping has increased due to a combination of factors including drought and land-use changes. In response, groundwater levels have declined to levels approaching or below historical low levels. In the San Joaquin Valley, the southern two thirds of the Central Valley, the extensive groundwater pumpage has caused aquifer system compaction, resulting in land subsidence and permanent loss of groundwater storage capacity. The magnitude and rate of subsidence varies based on geologic materials, consolidation history, and historical water levels. Spatially-variable subsidence has changed the land-surface slope, causing operational, maintenance, and construction-design problems for surface-water infrastructure. It is important for water agencies to plan for the effects of continued water-level declines, storage losses, and/or land subsidence. To combat these effects, excess surfacewater, when available, is artificially recharged. As surface-wateravailability, land use, and artificial recharge continue to vary, long-term groundwater-level and land-subsidence monitoring and modelling are critical to understanding the dynamics of the aquifer system. Modeling tools, such as the Central Valley Hydrologic Model, can be used in the analysis and evaluation of management strategies to mitigate adverse impacts due to subsidence, while also optimizing wateravailability. These analyses will be critical for successful implementation of recent legislation aimed toward sustainable groundwater use.

Coupled groundwater and surface-water components of the hydrologic cycle can be simulated by the Farm Process for MODFLOW (MF-FMP) in both irrigated and non-irrigated areas and aquifer-storage and recovery systems. MF-FMP is being applied to three productive agricultural regions of different scale in the State of California, USA, to assess the availability of water and the impacts of alternative management decisions. Hindcast simulations are conducted for similar periods from the 1960s to near recent times. Historical groundwater pumpage is mostly unknown in one region (Central Valley) and is estimated by MF-FMP. In another region (Pajaro Valley), recorded pumpage is used to calibrate model-estimated pumpage. Multiple types of observations are used to estimate uncertain parameters, such as hydraulic, land-use, and farm properties. MF-FMP simulates how climate variability and water-import availability affect water demand and supply. MF-FMP can be used to predict wateravailability based on anticipated changes in anthropogenic or natural water demands. Keywords groundwater; surface-water; irrigation; wateravailability; response to climate variability/change

Full Text Available The study of problem associated with wateravailability and its mapping is due to the need to solve urgent water problems of the Russian regions for their sustainable development. At the same time, sustainability is understood as rational use of water resources and their conservation to maintain the ecological balance of territories, and water security of regions is evaluated from the standpoint of water supply to municipalities. The shortage of water resources in Russia is perceived skeptically since our country is rich in water resources and the scarcity of fresh water threatens only a small part of its territory. However, the experts consider [Danilov-Danilyan, Galfan, 2015] that such a myopic point of view can lead in the long term to emergencies. The potential danger and risk of water use are already typical for the areas, which experience water stress. These are the territories with extremely low wateravailability per capita, less than 1.0-2.0 thousand m3/person/year [Shiklomanov, 2000; Danilov-Danilyan, Losev, 2006]. Geoinformation-cartographic modeling allows to differentiate the area under study according to water resource potential, to identify municipalities with low wateravailability and to estimate the population living in the area of potential danger and risk of water use.

The Central Valley in California (USA) covers about 52,000 km2 and is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. This agriculture relies heavily on surface-water diversions and groundwater pumpage to meet irrigation water demand. Because the valley is semi-arid and surface-wateravailability varies substantially, agriculture relies heavily on local groundwater. In the southern two thirds of the valley, the San Joaquin Valley, historic and recent groundwater pumpage has caused significant and extensive drawdowns, aquifer-system compaction and subsidence. During recent drought periods (2007–2009 and 2012-present), groundwater pumping has increased owing to a combination of decreased surface-wateravailability and land-use changes. Declining groundwater levels, approaching or surpassing historical low levels, have caused accelerated and renewed compaction and subsidence that likely is mostly permanent. The subsidence has caused operational, maintenance, and construction-design problems for water-delivery and flood-control canals in the San Joaquin Valley. Planning for the effects of continued subsidence in the area is important for water agencies. As land use, managed aquifer recharge, and surface-wateravailability continue to vary, long-term groundwater-level and subsidence monitoring and modelling are critical to understanding the dynamics of historical and continued groundwater use resulting in additional water-level and groundwater storage declines, and associated subsidence. Modeling tools such as the Central Valley Hydrologic Model, can be used in the evaluation of management strategies to mitigate adverse impacts due to subsidence while also optimizing wateravailability. This knowledge will be critical for successful implementation of recent legislation aimed toward sustainable groundwater use.

The Central Valley in California (USA) covers about 52,000 km2 and is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. This agriculture relies heavily on surface-water diversions and groundwater pumpage to meet irrigation water demand. Because the valley is semi-arid and surface-wateravailability varies substantially, agriculture relies heavily on local groundwater. In the southern two thirds of the valley, the San Joaquin Valley, historic and recent groundwater pumpage has caused significant and extensive drawdowns, aquifer-system compaction and subsidence. During recent drought periods (2007-2009 and 2012-present), groundwater pumping has increased owing to a combination of decreased surface-wateravailability and land-use changes. Declining groundwater levels, approaching or surpassing historical low levels, have caused accelerated and renewed compaction and subsidence that likely is mostly permanent. The subsidence has caused operational, maintenance, and construction-design problems for water-delivery and flood-control canals in the San Joaquin Valley. Planning for the effects of continued subsidence in the area is important for water agencies. As land use, managed aquifer recharge, and surface-wateravailability continue to vary, long-term groundwater-level and subsidence monitoring and modelling are critical to understanding the dynamics of historical and continued groundwater use resulting in additional water-level and groundwater storage declines, and associated subsidence. Modeling tools such as the Central Valley Hydrologic Model, can be used in the evaluation of management strategies to mitigate adverse impacts due to subsidence while also optimizing wateravailability. This knowledge will be critical for successful implementation of recent legislation aimed toward sustainable groundwater use.

Full Text Available The present study is focused on the role that various ways of soil tillage may have on the increase of soil wateravailability to the plant roots. The research was carried out in Tirana, Albania, and the experiment was established in a vineyard field. The soil was cultivated in three different ways (three treatments: conventional (plowing plus surface cultivation, conservative (subsoiling plus surface cultivation, conservative (chisel plowing plus surface cultivation. In order to quantify the available soil water to plants, the pF-soil moisture curves were determined. The determined pF-soil moisture curves belong to two layers: 0-25 cm and 25-50 cm, taken into consideration for each treatment. The soil water content between the field capacity (FWC and the permanent wilting point (PWP was considered as potentially available to plant roots. The results showed clearly that the way the tillage was applied has a significant effect on soil water capacity potentially available to plant roots. Loosening the soil by breaking up the impermeable layers, the conservative tillage makes possible the increase of the amount of water held by soil particles in the range between FWC and PWP, in comparison with the conventional tillage. This increase of available soil water capacity is due to the soil loosening in deeper layers of soil profile as well, which leads to the situation where the plant roots can penetrate deeper and occupy more space, consequently, drawing more water to meet their needs. Within the conservative tillage versions, sub soiling seems to be more effective in the increase of available soil water capacity comparing with the chisel plowing. The study contributes, as well, to the determination of the pF-soil moisture curves in a way that is theoretically well based. The founded curves fit with the exponential form of functions and the coefficients of determinations, for each case under study, are significant in high probability levels.

Full Text Available We quantify the potential impacts of global food production on freshwater availability (water scarcity footprint; WSF by applying the water unavailability factor (fwua as a characterization factor and a global water resource model based on life cycle impact assessment (LCIA. Each water source, including rainfall, surfacewater, and groundwater, has a distinct fwua that is estimated based on the renewability rate of each geographical water cycle. The aggregated consumptive water use level for food production (water footprint inventory; WI was found to be 4344 km3/year, and the calculated global total WSF was 18,031 km3 H2Oeq/year, when considering the difference in water sources. According to the fwua concept, which is based on the land area required to obtain a unit volume of water from each source, the calculated annual impact can also be represented as 98.5 × 106 km2. This value implies that current agricultural activities requires a land area that is over six times larger than global total cropland. We also present the net import of the WI and WSF, highlighting the importance of quantitative assessments for utilizing global water resources to achieve sustainable water use globally.

An alternative means of measuring the watersurface interface during laboratory experiments is processing a series of sequentially captured images. Image processing can provide a continuous, non-intrusive record of the watersurface profile whose accuracy is not dependent on water depth. More trad...

In the American West, the availability of water has become a serious concern for many communities and rural homeowners. Water of acceptable quality is harder to find because local sources are allocated to prior uses, depleted by overuse, or diminished by drought stress. Some of the inherent characteristics of the West add complexity to the task. The most rapidly growing States in population are in the Southwest-the most arid region on the continent. There is evidence that the climate is warming, which will have consequences for the Western water supplies, such as increasing minimum streamflow and earlier snowmelt events in snow-dominated basins. Endangered species are disproportionately represented in the Western States, and wateravailability now means sustaining riparian ecosystems and individual endangered species. Periodic inventory and assessment of the amounts and trends of wateravailable in surfacewater and ground water are needed to support water management. The widespread perception that the amount of wateravailable is diminishing with time needs to be replaced with fact. For the major Western rivers, there is either no long-term streamflow trend or the trend is increasing. In contrast, systematic information is lacking to make broad assessments of ground-wateravailability, but for specific aquifers where data are available, the aquifers are being depleted. The complexity added to the issue of Western wateravailability by these and other factors gives rise to a significant role for science. Science has played a role in support of Western water development from the beginning, and the role has evolved and changed over time along with society's values. The role for science is discussed in three phases-development and construction, consequences and environmental awareness, and sustainability. The development and construction includes some historical accounting of water development for the West and how some precedents set then, still exist today. Science

Full Text Available Successful management of forest systems requires a deeper understanding of the role of ecophysiological traits in enabling adaptation to high temperature and water deficit under current and anticipated changes in climate. A key attribute of leaf water relations is the water potential at zero turgor (πtlp, because it defines the operating water potentials over which plants actively control growth and gas exchange. This study examines the drivers of variation in πtlp with respect to species climate of origin and habitat wateravailability. We compiled a water relations database for 174 woody species occupying clearly delineated gradients in temperature and precipitation across the Australian continent. A significant proportion of the variability in πtlp (~35% could be explained by climatic water deficit and its interaction with summertime maximum temperature, demonstrating the strong selective pressure of aridity and high temperature in shaping leaf water relations among Australian species. Habitat wateravailability (midday leaf water potential, was also a significant predictor of πtlp (R2 = 0.43, highlighting the importance of species ecohydrologic niche under a set of climatic conditions. Shifts in πtlp in response to both climatic and site-based drivers of wateravailability emphasises its adaptive significance and its suitability as a predictor of plant performance under future climatic change.

Spatio-temporal patterns of soil moisture have been studied mostly for inputs in land surface models for weather and climate predictions. Remote sensing techniques for estimation of soil moisture have been explored because of the good spatial coverage at different scales. Current available satellite data provide surface soil moisture as microwave systems only measure soil moisture content up to 5cm soil depth. The OWAS1S project will focus on estimation of soil moisture from freely available Sentinel-1 datasets for operational water management in agricultural areas. As part of the project, it is essential to develop spatio-temporal methods to estimate root zone soil moisture from surface soil moisture. This will be used for crop wateravailability and trafficability in selected agricultural fields in the Netherlands. A network of single capacitance sensors installed per field will provide continuous measurements of soil moisture in the study area. Ground penetrating radar will be used to measure soil moisture variability within a single field for different time periods. During wetter months, optimal conditions for traffic will be assessed using simultaneous soil strength and soil moisture measurements. Towards water deficit periods, focus is on the relation (or the lack thereof) between surface soil moisture and root zone soil moisture to determine the amount of water for crops. Spatio-temporal distribution will determine important physical controls for surface and root zone soil moisture and provide insights for root-zone soil moisture. Existing models for field scale soil-water balance and data assimilation methods (e.g. Kalman filter) will be combined to estimate root zone soil moisture. Furthermore, effects of root development on soil structure and soil hydraulic properties and subsequent effects on trafficability and crop wateravailability will be investigated. This research project has recently started, therefore we want to present methods and framework of

Full Text Available Climate change can result in significant impacts on regional and global surfacewater and groundwater resources. Using groundwater as a complimentary source of water has provided an effective means to satisfy the ever-increasing water demands and deal with surfacewater shortages problems due to robust capability of groundwater in responding to climate change. Conjunctive use of surfacewater and groundwater is crucial for integrated water resources management. It is helpful to reduce vulnerabilities of water supply systems and mitigate the water supply stress in responding to climate change. Some critical challenges and perspectives are discussed to help decision/policy makers develop more effective management and adaptation strategies for conjunctive water resources use in facing climate change under complex uncertainties.

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to determine lithium concentration in potable water, surfacewater, ground, and mineral water on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia. Water samples were collected from water bodies such as multiple public water supply systems located in 13 cities, wells boreholes located in 12 areas, lakes and rivers located in three different areas. Determination of lithium concentration in potable water, surfacewater was performed by the technique of inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, while in ground water samples from wells boreholes and mineral waters with the technique of ion chromatography. The research shows that lithium concentration in potable water ranging from 0.1 to 5.2 μg/L; in surfacewater from 0.5 to 15.0 μg/L; ground water from wells boreholes from 16.0 to 49.1 μg/L and mineral water from 125.2 to 484.9 μg/L. Obtained values are in accordance with the relevant international values for the lithium content in water.

A key part of achieving the US Department of the Interior's sustainability goals is informing the public and decision makers about the status and trends of the Nation's water resources. To achieve these goals the USGS has implemented a National Water Census (NWC) to provide a more accurate picture of the quantity of the Nation's water resources and improve forecasting of wateravailability for current and future economic, energy production, and environmental uses. In 2016, to streamline water sustainability activities, the USGS realigned all wateravailability and use oriented research, including the NWC, within a new Program - the WaterAvailability and Use Science Program (WAUSP). WAUSP supports producing a current, comprehensive scientific assessment of the factors that influence wateravailability through development of nationally consistent datasets on the status and trends of water budget components (precipitation, streamflow, groundwater, and evapotranspiration), as well as human water use; improving the current understanding of flow requirements for ecological purposes; and evaluating water-resource conditions in selected river basins, or Focus Area Studies, where competition for water is a local concern. In addition to supporting research that provides water budget component estimates at the smallest possible spatial and temporal scale, WAUSP has supported the development of new methods and techniques to improve estimation of water use through the National Water Use Science project. These efforts include developing a heat budget-based model to improve estimates of thermoelectric water use, evaluating direct and indirect water use associated with unconventional oil and gas production, and developing methods to estimate irrigation consumptive use at both the local and regional scale. Additionally, WAUSP collaborates with federal, State, local, and University partners on a number of other water use related research including the new Water Use Data and

Watersurface is one of the most important components of landscape scenes. When rendering spacious far from the viewpoint. This is because watersurface consists of stochastic water waves which are usually modeled by periodic bump mapping. The incident rays on the watersurface are actually scattered by the bumped waves,pattern, we estimate this solid angle of reflected rays and trace these rays. An image-based accelerating method is adopted so that the contribution of each reflected ray can be quickly obtained without elaborate intersection calculation. We also demonstrate anti-aliased shadows of sunlight and skylight on the watersurface. Both the rendered images and animations show excellent effects on the watersurface of a reservoir.

The available soil water capacity (ASWC) is important for studying crop production, agro-ecological zoning, irrigation planning, and land cover changes. Laboratory determined data of ASWC are often not available for most of soil profiles and the nationwide ASWC largely remains lacking in relevant soil data in China. This work was to estimate ASWC based on physical and chemical properties and analyze the spatial distribution of ASWC in China. The pedo-transfer functions (PTFs), derived from 220 survey data of ASWC, and the empirical data of ASWC based on soil texture were applied to quantify the ASWC. GIS technology was used to develop a spatial file of ASWC in China and the spatial distribution of ASWC was also analyzed. The results showed the value of ASWC ranges from 15×10-2 cm3·cm-3 to 22×10-2 cm3·cm-3 for most soil types, and few soil types are lower than 15×10-2 cm3·cm-3 or higher than 22×10-2 cm3·cm-3, The ASWC is different according to the complex soil types and their distribution, It is higher in the east than that in the west, and the values reduce from south to north except the northeastern part of China. The “high” values of ASWC appear in southeast, northeastern mountain regions and Northeast China Plain. The relatively “high” values of ASWC appear in Sichuan basin, Huang-Huai-Hai plain and the east of Inner Mongolia. The relatively “low” values are distributed in the west and the Loess Plateau of China. The “very low” value regions are the northern Tibetan Plateau and the desertified areas in northern China. In some regions, the ASWC changes according to the complex topography and different types of soils. Though there remains precision limitation, the spatial data of ASWC derived from this study are improved on current data files of soil water retention properties for Chinese soils. This study presents basic data and analysis methods for estimation and evaluation of ASWC in China.

Currently, there are several space missions capable of measuring surface soil moisture, owing to the relevance of this variable in meteorology, hydrology and agriculture. However, the Plant AvailableWater (PAW), which in some fields of application could be more important than the soil moisture itself, cannot be directly measured by remote sensing. Considering the root zone as the first 50 cm of the soil, in this study, the PAW at 25 cm and 50 cm and integrated between 0 and 50 cm of soil depth was estimated using the surface soil moisture provided by the Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission. For this purpose, the Soil Water Index (SWI) has been used as a proxy of the root-zone soil moisture, involving the selection of an optimal T (Topt), which can be interpreted as a characteristic soil water travel time. In this research, several tests using the correlation coefficient (R), the Nash-Sutcliffe score (NS), several error estimators and bias as predictor metrics were applied to obtain the Topt, making a comprehensive study of the T parameter. After analyzing the results, some differences were found between the Topt obtained using R and NS as decision metrics, and that obtained using the errors and bias, but the SWI showed good results as an estimator of the root-zone soil moisture. This index showed good agreement, with an R between 0.60 and 0.88. The method was tested from January 2010 to December 2014, using the database of the Soil Moisture Measurements Stations Network of the University of Salamanca (REMEDHUS) in Spain. The PAW estimation showed good agreement with the in situ measurements, following closely the dry-downs and wetting-up events, with R ranging between 0.60 and 0.92, and error values lower than 0.05 m3m-3. A slight underestimation was observed for both the PAW and root-zone soil moisture at the different depths; this could be explained by the underestimation pattern observed with the SMOS L2 soil moisture product, in line with previous

Alterations in wateravailability are important to vegetation as can produce dramatic changes in plant communities, on physiological performance or survival of plant species. Particularly, groundwater lowering and surfacewater diversions will affect vulnerable coastal dune forests, ecosystems particularly sensitive to groundwater limitation. Reduction of water tables can prevent the plants from having access to one of their key water sources and inevitably affect groundwater-dependent species. The additional impact of drought due to climatic change on groundwater-dependent ecosystems has become of increasing concern since it aggravates groundwater reduction impacts with consequent uncertainties about how vegetation will respond over the short and long term. Sand dune plant communities encompass a diverse number of species that differ widely in root depth, tolerance to drought and capacity to shift between seasonal varying water sources. Plant functional groups may be affected by water distribution and availability differently. The high ecological diversity of sand dune forests, characterized by sandy soils, well or poorly drained, poor in nutrients and with different levels of salinity, can occur in different climatic regions of the globe. Such is the case of Tropical, Meso-mediterranean and Mediterranean areas, where future climate change is predicted to change wateravailability. Analyses of the relative natural abundances of stable isotopes of carbon (13C/12C) and oxygen (18O/16O) have been used across a wide range of scales, contributing to our understanding of plant ecology and interactions. This approach can show important temporal and spatial changes in utilization of different water sources by vegetation. Accordingly, the core idea of this work is to evaluate, along a climatic gradient, the responses and capacity of different coastal plant communities to adapt to changing wateravailability. This large-climatic-scale study, covering Brazil, Portugal and

Full Text Available Bacteriophages are increasingly used as tracers for quantitative analysis in both hydrology and hydrogeology. The biological particles are neither toxic nor pathogenic for other living organisms as they penetrate only a specific bacterial host. They have many advantages over classical fluorescent tracers and offer the additional possibility of multi-point injection for tracer tests. Several years of research make them suitable for quantitative transport analysis and flow boundary delineation in both surface and ground waters, including karst, fractured and porous media aquifers. This article presents the effective application of bacteriophages based on their use in differing Swiss hydrological environments and compares their behaviour to conventional coloured dye or salt-type tracers. In surfacewater and karst aquifers, bacteriophages travel at about the same speed as the typically referenced fluorescent tracers (uranine, sulphurhodamine G extra. In aquifers of interstitial porosity, however, they appear to migrate more rapidly than fluorescent tracers, albeit with a significant reduction in their numbers within the porous media. This faster travel time implies that a modified rationale is needed for defining some ground water protection area boundaries. Further developments of other bacteriophages and their documentation as tracer methods should result in an accurate and efficient tracer tool that will be a proven alternative to conventional fluorescent dyes.

The critical role of water in enabling or constraining human wellbeing and socio-economic activities has led to interest in quantitatively establishing the status or index of water (in)sufficiency over time and space. Introduced in 1989, the first widely accepted index expressed the status of water resources availability in terms of vulnerability, stress, or scarcity. Since then, numerous refinements and modifications to the concept have been published but nearly all adopt the same basic formulation; water status is a function of availablewater resources and demand or use. However, accurately defining and assessing `availablewater' has proved problematic especially in data scarce regions, such as Africa. In this paper, we use Total Water Storage (TWS) estimated from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) in lieu of observational hydrologic data, to estimate the Water Scarcity Index (WSI) for Africa at country level. The monthly TWS Positive anomalies represent periods of net system recharge while negative anomalies represent net system loss due to evapotranspiration and anthropogenic withdrawals. The procedure is as follows. First, we calculated the long-term (2002-2014) Internal Water Storage (IWS) for each country using the monthly precipitation data from the Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC). Next, the yearly cumulative positive and negative anomalies were added to the long-term IWS to obtain volumetric Potential Water Storage (VPWS) per country. By dividing VPWS by population, we obtain estimates of per capita wateravailability which can be grouped into vulnerability classes using established thresholds. Our VPWS showed very high correlation (R2 =0.94, p=0.0001) with the values of Internal Renewable Water Resources (IRWR) estimated by AQUSTAT. Additionally, the GWSI is highly correlated (R2 =0.94, p=0.0001) with the existing WSI index from the world bank data center. The novelty and contribution of our approach is in using GRACE

Beginning in 1986, the Congress annually has appropriated funds for the U.S. Geological Survey to test and refine concepts for a National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program. The long-term goals of a full-scale program would be to: (1) Provide a nationally consistent description of current water-quality conditions for a large part of the Nation's surface- and ground-water resources; (2) Define long-term trends (or lack of trends) in water quality; and (3) Identify, describe, and explain, as possible, the major factors that affect the observed water-quality conditions and trends. The results of the NAWQA Program will be made available to water managers, policy makers, and the public, and will provide an improved scientific basis for evaluating the effectiveness of water-quality management programs. At present (1988), the assessment program is in a pilot phase in seven project areas throughout the country that represent diverse hydrologic environments and water-quality conditions. The Central Oklahoma aquifer project is one of three pilot ground-water projects. One of the initial activities performed by each pilot project was to compile, screen, and interpret the large amount of water-quality data available within each study area. The purpose of this report is to assess the water quality of the Central Oklahoma aquifer using the information available through 1987. The scope of the work includes compiling data from Federal, State, and local agencies; evaluating the suitability of the information for conducting a regional water-quality assessment; mapping regional variations in major-ion chemistry; calculating summary statistics of the availablewater-quality data; producing maps to show the location and number of samples that exceeded water-quality standards; and performing contingency-table analyses to determine the relation of geologic unit and depth to the occurrence of chemical constituents that exceed water-quality standards. This report provides an initial

design criteria for such surfaces. The problem of adapting this behaviour to artificially roughened surfaces is addressed by providing design criteria for superhydrophobic, water-repellent and self-cleaning surfaces according to the concrete performance desired for them. Different kind of manufacturing...

The effect of wateravailability on water relations of 11-year-old loblolly pine stands was studied over two growing seasons in material from two contrasting seed sources. Increasing soil wateravailability via irrigation increased transpiration rate, and maximum daily transpiration rate on irrigated plots was similar for both seasons, reaching values of 4.3 mm day(-)(1). Irrigation also changed soil water extraction patterns. In the rain-fed control plots, 73% of the average daily transpiration was extracted from the upper 0.75 m of the soil profile. Under irrigated conditions, 92% of transpired water was extracted from the upper 0.75 m of soil, with 79% of transpired water coming from the upper 0.35 m of the profile; only 10% of total transpiration in this treatment was extracted from the soil below 1 m. There was an irrigation x seed source interaction in the response of canopy conductance to water vapor (G(C)) to vapor pressure deficit (D). Under water-limited conditions, trees from the South Carolina seed source (SC) had stronger stomatal control than trees from the Florida seed source (FL), but this difference was not present when water was not limiting. The transpiration-induced water potential gradient from roots to shoots (DeltaPsi) was relatively constant across treatments (P = 0.52) and seed sources (P = 0.72), averaging 0.75 MPa. This reflects strong stomatal control that maintains relatively constant DeltaPsi but at the same time allows leaf water potential (Psi(l)) to fluctuate dramatically in synchrony with soil water potential (Psi(s)). The two seed sources evaluated also showed differences in foliar N and delta(13)C, possibly reflecting differences in adaptation to ambient humidity and wateravailability regimes in their respective ranges. These differences among seed sources under different wateravailability scenarios may be informative to natural resource managers and breeders as they design tree improvement and genetic deployment programs for

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources — The MN Department of Agriculture (MDA) is charged with periodically collecting and analyzing water samples from selected locations throughout the state to determine...

The architecture of the branched root system of plants is a major determinant of vigor. Wateravailability is known to impact root physiology and growth; however, the spatial scale at which this stimulus influences root architecture is poorly understood. Here we reveal that differences in the availability of water across the circumferential axis of the root create spatial cues that determine the position of lateral root branches. We show that roots of several plant species can distinguish between a wet surface and air environments and that this also impacts the patterning of root hairs, anthocyanins, and aerenchyma in a phenomenon we describe as hydropatterning. This environmental response is distinct from a touch response and requires availablewater to induce lateral roots along a contacted surface. X-ray microscale computed tomography and 3D reconstruction of soil-grown root systems demonstrate that such responses also occur under physiologically relevant conditions. Using early-stage lateral root markers, we show that hydropatterning acts before the initiation stage and likely determines the circumferential position at which lateral root founder cells are specified. Hydropatterning is independent of endogenous abscisic acid signaling, distinguishing it from a classic water-stress response. Higher wateravailability induces the biosynthesis and transport of the lateral root-inductive signal auxin through local regulation of tryptophan aminotransferase of Arabidopsis 1 and PIN-formed 3, both of which are necessary for normal hydropatterning. Our work suggests that wateravailability is sensed and interpreted at the suborgan level and locally patterns a wide variety of developmental processes in the root.

Water management was critical to the development of complex societies but such systems are often difficult, if not impossible, to recognise in the archaeological record, particularly in prehistoric communities when water management began. This is because early irrigation systems are likely to have been ephemeral and as such would no longer be visible in the archaeological record. We conducted a three year crop growing experiment in Jordan to test the hypothesis that phytoliths (opaline silica...

The water resources are fundamental to the development of several economic activities. Concerning the agriculture production, the water can represent close to 90% of the physical constitution of the plant. The low water supply during the growing stage of vegetables can make the agricultural production not viable and can even seriously affect the balance of the ecosystem. One way to calculate the amount of water in a determined system is by means of the water balance, that is an important tool for the assessment process of the water cycle in a specific region. The main goal of this work was to establish the water balance in the watershed Boi Branco-SP, so that it can be used as a tool for the hydro-agricultural and environmental planning of the region. For the water climate balance, it was used data of the historical series of the region (1971 - 1995). The data of evapotranspiration were estimated by the method Thornthwaite. The water climate balance showed low water supply total annual of 10.1 mm, and exceeding of 319.7 mm, wherein in month January an exceeding of 92.6 to the average monthly precipitation; given the effective monthly precipitation with probability of 75% low water supply in the soil it is 238.8 mm and the exceeding 56.8 mm. When these data are added to the ones of the crop, as a crop coefficient and availability factor of water in the soil, it is observed that all crops which are inserted in the watershed present low water supply in all the months they are in the field. As the water balance is an important assessment of a specific region, further studies are recommended, with data collected in the region, so that the update in the results is obtained. Thus, it is also recommended the establishment of a system for agrometerological collecting data to help the irrigation management and other agricultural activities. Keyword: Water agricultural planning, water capability available in the soil, evapotranspiration.

This thesis addresses the interdependencies between water use and wateravailability and describes a model that has been developed to improve understanding of the processes that drive changes and variations in the spatial and temporal distribution of water resources in a semi-arid river basin. These

This manual was developed for use at workshops designed to increase the knowledge of experienced water treatment plant operators. Each of the fourteen lessons in this document has clearly stated behavioral objectives to tell the trainee what he should know or do after completing that topic. Areas covered in this manual include: basic water…

Structured water on apposing surfaces can generate significant energies due to reorganization and displacement as the surfaces encounter each other. Force measurements on a multitude of biological structures using the osmotic stress technique have elucidated commonalities that point toward an underlying hydration force. In this review, the forces of two contrasting systems are considered in detail: highly charged DNA and nonpolar, uncharged hydroxypropyl cellulose. Conditions for both net repulsion and attraction, along with the measured exclusion of chemically different solutes from these macromolecular surfaces, are explored and demonstrate features consistent with a hydration force origin. Specifically, the observed interaction forces can be reduced to the effects of perturbing structured surfacewater.

This report provides water users with detailed information on the location, quantity, and quality of wateravailable from underground coal mines in the Breathitt Formation of Pennsylvanian age in part of eastern Kentucky. The principal coal seams mined are the Van Lear in Johnson County and the Alma in Martin County. Coal mines that contained water were located by field inventory and coal-mine maps. The principal factors that affect the occurrence of water in coal mines are the size of the recharge area overlying the mine, the intensity and duration of precipitation, and the altitude of the mine relative to that of the nearest perennial stream. Ten above-drainage mines (that is, mines at higher elevations than that of the nearest perennial stream) are considered potential sources of water. Discharge from these mines ranged from 12 to 1,700 gallons per minute. The highest sustained discharge from a mine ranged from 750 to 1,200 gallons per minute. The water in coal mines is part of the hydrologic system and varies seasonally with precipitation. Annual discharge from most above-drainage mines ranged from 3 to 10 percent of annual precipitation on the 1and-surface area above the mine. Eight below-drainage mines are considered potential sources of water. Two were test-pumped at rates of 560 to 620 gallons per minute for as long as 6 hours. After test pumping the Warfield Mining No. 1 mine during September 1977 and March 1978, the recovery (or recharge) rates were significantly different. In September, the recharge rate was about 1,150 gallons per minute, but in March the recharge rate was 103,500 gallons per minute. This difference reflects the seasonal variations in the amount of wateravailable to the ground-water system. Estimates of water stored in below-drainage mines ranged from 22 to 1,462 million gallons. This storage represents a safety factor sufficient to provide water through periods of limited recharge to the mine. Most mine water is of the calcium

Enzymatic hydrolysis involves the use of cellulases to break down cellulose in the presence of water. Therefore, not only are enzyme and substrate properties important for efficient hydrolysis, but also the hydrolysis medium, i.e. the liquid phase. The LF-NMR technique is used in this work...... to measure properties of the liquid phase, where water protons are characterized based on their mobility in the system as measured by their relaxation time. Studies of cellulose hydrolysis at low dry matter show that the contents of the liquid phase influence the final hydrolysis yield, as the presence...

This article describes a system that guarantees the immediate supply of hot water at taps using heating strips that accompany the pipes leading from the boiler to the point of usage whilst avoiding energy losses incurred when hot-water circulation systems are used. The self-regulating system is described and application examples are quoted. The topic of legionella bacteria prevention is discussed and the efficiency of the system is looked at. Notes on the installation of the heating tapes are given and the system's controller is briefly looked at.

Vaporized water clusters were produced by an adiabatic expansion phenomenon, and various substrates such as Si(1 0 0), SiO2, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polycarbonate (PC) were irradiated by water cluster ion beams. The sputtered depth increased with increasing acceleration voltage, and the sputtering rate was much larger than that obtained using Ar monomer ion irradiation. The sputtering yield for PMMA was approximately 200 molecules per ion, at an acceleration voltage of 9 kV. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements showed that high-rate sputtering for the PMMA surface can be ascribed to the surface erosion by the water cluster ion irradiation. Furthermore, the micropatterning was demonstrated on the PMMA substrate. Thus, the surface irradiation by water cluster ion beams exhibited a chemical reaction based on OH radicals, as well as excited hydrogen atoms, which resulted in a high sputtering rate and low irradiation damage of the substrate surfaces.

Vaporized water clusters were produced by an adiabatic expansion phenomenon, and various substrates such as Si(1 0 0), SiO{sub 2}, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polycarbonate (PC) were irradiated by water cluster ion beams. The sputtered depth increased with increasing acceleration voltage, and the sputtering rate was much larger than that obtained using Ar monomer ion irradiation. The sputtering yield for PMMA was approximately 200 molecules per ion, at an acceleration voltage of 9 kV. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements showed that high-rate sputtering for the PMMA surface can be ascribed to the surface erosion by the water cluster ion irradiation. Furthermore, the micropatterning was demonstrated on the PMMA substrate. Thus, the surface irradiation by water cluster ion beams exhibited a chemical reaction based on OH radicals, as well as excited hydrogen atoms, which resulted in a high sputtering rate and low irradiation damage of the substrate surfaces.

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — This dataset consists of survey data from a longitudinal profile of watersurface surveyed June 23-24, 2013 at Exit Creek, a stream draining Exit Glacier in Kenai...

US Forest Service, Department of Agriculture — A map service on the www depicting watershed indexes to help identify areas of interest for protecting surface drinking water quality. The dataset depicted in this...

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Excess nitrogen in surfacewater can result in eutrophication. TOTALNFuture is reported in kilograms/hectare/year. More information about these resources, including...

Kansas Data Access and Support Center — The SurfaceWaters Information Management System (SWIMS) has been designed to meet multi-agency hydrologic database needs for Kansas. The SWIMS project was supported...

Full Text AvailableWater quality data for 56 long-term monitoring sites in eight European countries are used to assess freshwater responses to reductions in acid deposition at a large spatial scale. In a consistent analysis of trends from 1980 onwards, the majority of surfacewaters (38 of 56 showed significant (p ≤0.05 decreasing trends in pollution-derived sulphate. Only two sites showed a significant increase. Nitrate, on the other hand, had a much weaker and more varied pattern, with no significant trend at 35 of 56 sites, decreases at some sites in Scandinavia and Central Europe, and increases at some sites in Italy and the UK. The general reduction in surfacewater acid anion concentrations has led to increases in acid neutralising capacity (significant at 27 of 56 sites but has also been offset in part by decreases in base cations, particularly calcium (significant at 26 of 56 sites, indicating that much of the improvement in runoff quality to date has been the result of decreasing ionic strength. Increases in acid neutralising capacity have been accompanied by increases in pH and decreases in aluminium, although fewer trends were significant (pH 19 of 56, aluminium 13 of 53. Increases in pH appear to have been limited in some areas by rising concentrations of organic acids. Within a general trend towards recovery, some inter-regional variation is evident, with recovery strongest in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, moderate in Scandinavia and the United Kingdom, and apparently weakest in Germany. Keywords: acidification, recovery, European trends, sulphate, nitrate, acid neutralising capacity

The surface tension of water is an important parameter for many biological or industrial processes, and roughly a factor of 3 higher than that of nonpolar liquids such as oils, which is usually attributed to hydrogen bonding and dipolar interactions. Here we show by studying the formation of water drops that the surface tension of a freshly created watersurface is even higher (∼90 mN m(-1)) than under equilibrium conditions (∼72 mN m(-1)) with a relaxation process occurring on a long time scale (∼1 ms). Dynamic adsorption effects of protons or hydroxides may be at the origin of this dynamic surface tension. However, changing the pH does not significantly change the dynamic surface tension. It also seems unlikely that hydrogen bonding or dipole orientation effects play any role at the relatively long time scale probed in the experiments.

Eutrophication of freshwater environments following diffuse nutrient loads is a widely recognized water quality problem in catchments. Fluxes of non-point P sources to surfacewaters originate from surface runoff and flow from soil water and groundwater into surfacewater. The availability of P in s

Water interaction with nanostructured graphite surfaces is strongly dependent on the surface morphology. In this work, temperature programmed desorption (TPD) in combination with quadrupole mass spectrometry (QMS) has been used to study water ice desorption from a nanostructured graphite surface. This model surface was fabricated by hole-mask colloidal lithography (HCL) along with oxygen plasma etching and consists of a rough carbon surface covered by well defined structures of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). The results are compared with those from pristine HOPG and a rough (oxygen plasma etched) carbon surface without graphite nanostructures. The samples were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The TPD experiments were conducted for H2O coverages obtained after exposures between 0.2 and 55 langmuir (L) and reveal a complex desorption behaviour. The spectra from the nanostructured surface show additional, coverage dependent desorption peaks. They are assigned to water bound in two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) hydrogen-bonded networks, defect-bound water, and to water intercalated into the graphite structures. The intercalation is more pronounced for the nanostructured graphite surface in comparison to HOPG surfaces because of a higher concentration of intersheet openings. From the TPD spectra, the desorption energies for water bound in 2D and 3D (multilayer) networks were determined to be 0.32 ± 0.06 and 0.41 ± 0.03 eV per molecule, respectively. An upper limit for the desorption energy for defect-bound water was estimated to be 1 eV per molecule.

Full Text Available microscale processes like ecohydrological feedback mechanisms and spatial exchange like surfacewater flow, the authors derive transition probabilities from a fine-scale simulation model. They applied two versions of the landscape model, one that includes...

Polyfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), especially short chain fluorinated alkyl sulfonates and carboxylates, are ubiquitously found in the environment. This chapter aims at giving an overview of PFC concentrations found in European surface, ground- and drinking waters and their behavior during convention

Polyfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), especially short chain fluorinated alkyl sulfonates and carboxylates, are ubiquitously found in the environment. This chapter aims at giving an overview of PFC concentrations found in European surface, ground- and drinking waters and their behavior during

Manufacturers of clothing articles employ nanosilver (n-Ag) as an antimicrobial agent, but the environmental impacts of n-Ag release from commercial products are unknown. The quantity and form of the nanomaterials released from consumer products should be determined to assess the environmental risks of nanotechnology. This paper investigates silver released from commercial clothing (socks) into water, and its fate in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Six types of socks contained up to a maximum of 1360 microg-Ag/g-sock and leached as much as 650 microg of silver in 500 mL of distilled water. Microscopy conducted on sock material and wash water revealed the presence of silver particles from 10 to 500 nm in diameter. Physical separation and ion selective electrode (ISE) analyses suggest that both colloidal and ionic silver leach from the socks. Variable leaching rates among sock types suggests that the sock manufacturing process may control the release of silver. The adsorption of the leached silver to WWTP biomass was used to develop a model which predicts that a typical wastewater treatment facility could treat a high concentration of influent silver. However, the high silver concentration may limitthe disposal of the biosolids as agricultural fertilizer.

Full Text Available Arsenic contamination of ground water has occurred in various parts of the world, becoming a menace in the Ganga-Meghna-Brahmaputra basin (West Bengal and Assam in India and Bangladesh. Recently arsenic has been detected in Cachar and Karimganj districts of barak valley, Assam, bordering Bangladesh. In this area coli form contamination comprises the major constraint towards utilization of its otherwise ample surfacewater resources. The local water management exploited ground water sources using a centralized piped water delivery scheme without taking into account the geologically arsenic-prone nature of the sediments and aquifers in this area. Thus surfacewater was the suggestive alternative for drinking water in this area. The present study investigated surfacewater quality and availability in a village of Karimganj district, Assam, India contaminated with arsenic for identifying the potential problems of surfacewater quality maintenance so that with effective management safe drinking water could be provided. The study revealed that the area was rich in freshwater ecosystems which had all physico-chemical variables such as water temperature, pH, DO, total alkalinity, free CO2, heavy metals like lead, chromium and cadmium within WHO standards. In contrast, coli form bacteria count was found far beyond permissible limit in all the sources. Around 60% people of the village preferred ground water for drinking and only 6% were aware of arsenic related problems. The problem of bacterial contamination could be controlled by implementing some ameliorative measures so that people can safely use surfacewater. Inhabitants of the two districts should be given proper education regarding arsenic contamination and associated health risk. Effluents should be treated to acceptable levels and standards before discharging them into natural streams.

Liquid layers adhered to solid surfaces and that are in equilibrium with the vapor phase are common in printing, coating, and washing processes as well as in alveoli in lungs and in stomata in leaves. For such a liquid layer in equilibrium with the vapor it faces, it has been generally believed that, aside from liquid lumps, only a very thin layer of the liquid, i.e., with a thickness of only a few nanometers, is held onto the surface of the solid, and that this adhesion is due to van der Waals forces. A similar layer of water can remain on the surface of a wall of a microchannel after evaporation of bulk water creates a void in the channel, but the thickness of such a water layer has not yet been well characterized. Herein we showed such a water layer adhered to a microchannel wall to be 100 to 170 nm thick and stable against surface tension. The water layer thickness was measured using electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), and the water layer structure was characterized by using a quantitative nanoparticle counting technique. This thickness was found for channel gap heights ranging from 1 to 5 μm. Once formed, the water layers in the microchannel, when sealed, were stable for at least one week without any special care. Our results indicate that the water layer forms naturally and is closely associated only with the surface to which it adheres. Our study of naturally formed, stable water layers may shed light on topics from gas exchange in alveoli in biology to the post-wet-process control in the semiconductor industry. We anticipate our report to be a starting point for more detailed research and understanding of the microfluidics, mechanisms and applications of gas-liquid-solid systems.

Full Text Available The initial value problem of generation of surfacewater waves by a harmonically oscillating plane vertical wavemaker in an infinite incompressible fluid under the action of gravity and surface tension is investigated. In the asymptotic evaluation of the free surface depression for large time and distance, the contribution to the integral by stationary phase method gives rise to transient component of the free surface depression while the contribution from the poles give rise to steady state component. It is observed that the presence of surface tension sometimes changes the qualitative nature of the transient component of free surface depression.

Aluminum oxide, Al2O3, nanoparticles with water were irradiated with γ-rays and 5 MeV He ions followed by the determination of the production of molecular hydrogen, H2, and characterization of changes in the particle surface. Surface analysis techniques included: diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFT), nitrogen absorption with the Brunauer - Emmett - Teller (BET) methodology for surface area determination, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Production of H2 by γ-ray radiolysis was determined for samples with adsorbed water and for Al2O3 - water slurries. For Al2O3 samples with adsorbed water, the radiation chemical yield of H2 was measured as 80±20 molecules/100 eV (1 molecule/100 eV=1.04×10-7 mol/J). The yield of H2 was observed to decrease as the amount of water present in the Al2O3 - water slurries increased. Surface studies indicated that the α-phase Al2O3 samples changed phase following irradiation by He ions, and that the oxyhydroxide layer, present on the pristine sample, is removed by γ-ray and He ion irradiation.

The initial interactions of water vapor with polycrystalline titanium surfaces were studied at room temperature. Measurements of water vapor surface accumulation were performed in a combined surface analysis system incorporating direct recoils spectrometry (DRS), Auger electron spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The kinetics of accommodation of the water dissociation fragments (H, O and OH) displayed a complex behavior depending not only on the exposure dose but also on the exposure pressure. For a given exposure dose the efficiency of chemisorption increased with increasing exposure pressure. DRS measurements indicated the occurrence of clustered hydroxyl moieties with tilted O-H bonds formed even at very low surface coverage. A model which assumes two parallel routes of chemisorption, by direct collisions (Langmuir type) and by a precursor state is proposed to account for the observed behavior. The oxidation efficiency of water seemed to be much lower than that of oxygen. No Ti 4+ states were detected even at high water exposure values. It is likely that hydroxyl species play an important role in the reduced oxidation efficiency of water.

The anthropological research in the framework of the interdisciplinary IMPETUS West Africa-project focuses on wateravailability, water quality and on social problems and conflicts concerning the management of this sometimes scarce or polluted resource. The northern project area, the catchment of the Drâa river in Southern Moroco, is characterised by a very low precipitation rate and an overall shortage of availablewater, a situation which has been aggravated by a drought in recent years. But even in the much moister southern research region, the catchment of the river Ouémé in Benin, water is not always available in the required quantity and quality. Although Morocco and Benin share no common cultural or ethnic identities, local 'traditional' water management institutions exist in both countries. The common objective of anthropological research is to identify and analyse these institutions on a micro- or mezzo-level, and to look into the social and cultural processes which lead to a sustainable - or ineffective - use of water. The prime research unit for anthropologists is the household, which is in general congruent with the basic economic unit. It is obvious that gender relations are an important aspect to consider if one looks into the management of water resources. Women are often in charge of supplying the household with drinking water, and in Benin many women are farmers, who, according to local concepts, spend more time on the fields than men. In addition, social changes caused by the shortage of water and their consequences for water management systems are investigated. In Morocco, the emigration of young men is a reaction to the recent droughts, transforming the household structure and gender relations in rural settlements. In return, the investment of the remittances into agriculture, for instance the purchase of motor-pumps for irrigation, affects the water management by circumventing traditional social and politically accepted water distribution

The Integrated Water Flow Model (IWFM) is a comprehensive input-driven application for simulating groundwater flow, surfacewater flow and land-surface hydrologic processes, and interactions between these processes, developed by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR). IWFM couples a 3-D finite element groundwater flow process and 1-D land surface, lake, stream flow and vertical unsaturated-zone flow processes which are solved simultaneously at each time step. The groundwater flow system is simulated as a multilayer aquifer system with a mixture of confined and unconfined aquifers separated by semiconfining layers. The groundwater flow process can simulate changing aquifer conditions (confined to unconfined and vice versa), subsidence, tile drains, injection wells and pumping wells. The land surface process calculates elemental water budgets for agricultural, urban, riparian and native vegetation classes. Crop water demands are dynamically calculated using distributed soil properties, land use and crop data, and precipitation and evapotranspiration rates. The crop mix can also be automatically modified as a function of pumping lift using logit functions. Surfacewater diversions and groundwater pumping can each be specified, or can be automatically adjusted at run time to balance water supply with water demand. The land-surface process also routes runoff to streams and deep percolation to the unsaturated zone. Surfacewater networks are specified as a series of stream nodes (coincident with groundwater nodes) with specified bed elevation, conductance and stage-flow relationships. Stream nodes are linked to form stream reaches. Stream inflows at the model boundary, surfacewater diversion locations, and one or more surfacewater deliveries per location are specified. IWFM routes stream flows through the network, calculating groundwater-surfacewater interactions, accumulating inflows from runoff, and allocating available stream flows to meet specified or

Full Text Available The natural surfacewater, especially available through rivers, is the main source of healthy water for the living beings throughout the world from ancient days as it consists of all essential minerals. With the advent of industrialization, gradually even the most prominent rivers have been polluted in all parts of the world. Although there are lots of technologies, nanofiltration (NF has been chosen to transform river water into healthy water due to its unique advantages of retaining optimum TDS (with essential minerals required for human body, consuming of lower energy, and no usage of any chemicals. The prominent parameters of surfacewater and macro/microminerals of treated water have been analyzed. It is shown that NF is better in producing healthy water with high flux by consuming low energy.

directly from the electronic structure calculations. We consider electrodes of Pt(111) and Au(111) in detail and then discuss trends for a series of different metals. We show that the difficult step in the water splitting process is the formation of superoxy-type (OOH) species on the surface...... by the splitting of a water molecule on top an adsorbed oxygen atom. One conclusion is that this is only possible on metal surfaces that are (partly) oxidized. We show that the binding energies of the different intermediates are linearly correlated for a number of metals. In a simple analysis, where the linear...... relations are assumed to be obeyed exactly, this leads to a universal relationship between the catalytic rate and the oxygen binding energy. Finally, we conclude that for systems obeying these relations, there is a limit to how good a water splitting catalyst an oxidized metal surface can become. (c) 2005...

Vegetated riparian buffer zones are a widely recommended best management practice in agriculture for protecting surface and coastal waters from diffuse nutrient pollution. On the background of the EU funded research project NitroEurope (NEU; www.NitroEurope.eu), this study concentrates...... on the mitigation of nitrogen pollution in surface and groundwater, using riparian buffer zones for biomass production. The objectives are to map suitable areas for buffer implementation across the six NEU study landscapes, model tentative N-loss mitigation, calculate biomass production potential and economic...... designed for local conditions could be a way of protecting water quality attractive to many stakeholders....

INTRODUCTION The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Georgia Water Science Center-in cooperation with Federal, State, and local agencies-collected surface-water streamflow, water-quality, and ecological data during the 2005 Water Year (October 1, 2004-September 30, 2005). These data were compiled into layers of an interactive ArcReaderTM published map document (pmf). ArcReaderTM is a product of Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc (ESRI?). Datasets represented on the interactive map are * continuous daily mean streamflow * continuous daily mean water levels * continuous daily total precipitation * continuous daily water quality (water temperature, specific conductance dissolved oxygen, pH, and turbidity) * noncontinuous peak streamflow * miscellaneous streamflow measurements * lake or reservoir elevation * periodic surface-water quality * periodic ecological data * historical continuous daily mean streamflow discontinued prior to the 2005 water year The map interface provides the ability to identify a station in spatial reference to the political boundaries of the State of Georgia and other features-such as major streams, major roads, and other collection stations. Each station is hyperlinked to a station summary showing seasonal and annual stream characteristics for the current year and for the period of record. For continuous discharge stations, the station summary includes a one page graphical summary page containing five graphs, a station map, and a photograph of the station. The graphs provide a quick overview of the current and period-of-record hydrologic conditions of the station by providing a daily mean discharge graph for the water year, monthly statistics graph for the water year and period of record, an annual mean streamflow graph for the period of record, an annual minimum 7-day average streamflow graph for the period of record, and an annual peak streamflow graph for the period of record. Additionally, data can be accessed through the layer's link

Polypropylene (PP), including isotactic PP (i-PP) and atactic PP (a-PP) with distinct tacticity, is one of the most widely used general plastics. Herein, ultra water repellent PP coatings with tunable adhesion to water were prepared via a simple casting method. The pure i-PP coating shows a hierarchical morphology with micro/nanobinary structures, exhibiting a water contact angle (CA) larger than 150° and a sliding angle less than 5° (for 5 μL water droplet). In contrast, the pure a-PP coating has a less rough morphology with a water contact angle of about 130°, and the water droplets stick on the coating at any tilted angles. For the composite i-PP/a-PP coatings, however, ultra water repellency with CA > 150° but water adhesion tailorable from slippery to sticky can be realized, depending on the contents of a-PP and i-PP. The different wetting behaviors are due to the various microstructures of the composite coatings resulting from the distinct crystallization ability of a-PP and i-PP. Furthermore, the existence of a-PP in the composite coatings enhances the mechanical properties compared to the i-PP coating. The proposed method is feasible to modify various substrates and potential applications in no-loss liquid transportation, slippery surfaces, and patterned superhydrophobic surfaces are demonstrated.

Full Text Available In this investigation, locally available and inexpensive Taro and Water Hyacinth were used as biosorbents to remove chromium from synthetic wastewater. The removal of this metal ion from water in the batch and column method have been studied and discussed. Adsorption kinetics and equilibrium isotherm studies were also carried out. The material exhibits good adsorption capacity and the data follow both Freundlich and Langmuir models. Scanning Electronic Microscopic image was also used to understand the surface characteristics of biosorbent before and after biosorption studies. Effects of various factors such as pH, adsorbent dose, adsorbate initial concentration, particle size etc. were analyzed. The initial concentrations of chromium were considered 5-30mgL-1 in batch method and only 4mgL-1 in column method. The maximum chromium adsorbed was 1.64 mgg-1 and 4.44 mgg-1 in Batch method and 1.15 mgg-1 and 0.75 mgg-1 in Column method. Batch and Column desorption and regeneration studies were conducted. Column desorption studies indicated that both of these biosorbents could be reused for removing heavy metals. Results of the laboratory experiments show that the performance of Taro and Water Hyacinth prove that they can effectively be used as low cost biosorbents for the removal of chromium from wastewater.KEYWORDS: adsorption; chromium removal; Taro; water hyacinth; batch method; column studies

The projection and analysis of the Pajaro Valley Hydrologic Model (PVHM) 34 years into the future using MODFLOW with the Farm Process (MF-FMP) facilitates assessment of potential future wateravailability. The projection is facilitated by the integrated hydrologic model, MF-FMP that fully couples the simulation of the use and movement of water from precipitation, streamflow, runoff, groundwater flow, and consumption by natural and agricultural vegetation throughout the hydrologic system at all times. MF-FMP allows for more complete analysis of conjunctive-use water-resource systems than previously possible with MODFLOW by combining relevant aspects of the landscape with the groundwater and surface-water components. This analysis is accomplished using distributed cell-by-cell supply-constrained and demand-driven components across the landscape within “water-balance subregions” (WBS) comprised of one or more model cells that can represent a single farm, a group of farms, watersheds, or other hydrologic or geopolitical entities. Analysis of conjunctive use would be difficult without embedding the fully coupled supply-and-demand into a fully coupled simulation, and are difficult to estimate a priori.

The purpose of this report is to summarize data on the use of water in the Delaware Basin Project area (fig. 2) and to list the principal data sources that are available in published form. The tables and bibliography will assist Geological Survey personnel assigned to the Delaware Basin Project in evaluating the scope and deficiencies of previous studies of the basin. Information is also given on the use of water by public supplies in the New York-New Jersey region comprising the New York City Metropolitan Area and in the remaining north-central and south-eastern parts of New Jersey. These regions may depend increasingly on water from the Delaware River basin for part of their public supplies. The Geological Survey has the responsibility for appraising and describing the water resources of the Nation as a guide to use, development, control, and conservation of these resources. Cooperative Federal-State water-resources investigations in the Delaware Basin States have been carried on the the Geological Survey for more than 50 years. In July 1956 the Survey began the "Delaware Basin Project," a hydrologic study of the Delaware River basin in order to: 1) Determine present status and trends in wateravailability, quality, and use, 2) assess and improve the adequacy of the Survey's basic water data program in the basin, 3) interpret and evaluate the water-resources data in terms of past and possible future water-use and land-use practices, and 4) disseminate promptly the results of this investigation for the benefit of all interested agencies and the general public. The Geological Survey is working closely with the U.S. Corps of Engineers and other cooperating Federal and State agencies in providing water data which will contribute to the present coordinated investigation aimed at developing a plan for long-range water development in the Delaware River basin. Estimates of quantities of water used are given for water withdrawn from streams and aquifers during calendar

Introduction Waterborne pathogens that cause diarrhoea, such as Cryptosporidium, pose a health risk all over the world. In many regions quantitative information on pathogens in surfacewater is unavailable. Our main objective is to model Cryptosporidium concentrations in surfacewaters worldwide. We present the GloWPa-Crypto model and use the model in a scenario analysis. A first exploration of global Cryptosporidium emissions to surfacewaters has been published by Hofstra et al. (2013). Further work has focused on modelling emissions of Cryptosporidium and Rotavirus to surfacewaters from human sources (Vermeulen et al 2015, Kiulia et al 2015). A global waterborne pathogen model can provide valuable insights by (1) providing quantitative information on pathogen levels in data-sparse regions, (2) identifying pathogen hotspots, (3) enabling future projections under global change scenarios and (4) supporting decision making. Material and Methods GloWPa-Crypto runs on a monthly time step and represents conditions for approximately the year 2010. The spatial resolution is a 0.5 x 0.5 degree latitude x longitude grid for the world. We use livestock maps (http://livestock.geo-wiki.org/) combined with literature estimates to calculate spatially explicit livestock Cryptosporidium emissions. For human Cryptosporidium emissions, we use UN population estimates, the WHO/UNICEF JMP sanitation country data and literature estimates of wastewater treatment. We combine our emissions model with a river routing model and data from the VIC hydrological model (http://vic.readthedocs.org/en/master/) to calculate concentrations in surfacewater. Cryptosporidium survival during transport depends on UV radiation and water temperature. We explore pathogen emissions and concentrations in 2050 with the new Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSPs) 1 and 3. These scenarios describe plausible future trends in demographics, economic development and the degree of global integration. Results and

Future extended lunar surface missions will require extensive recovery of resources to reduce mission costs and enable self-sufficiency. Water is of particular importance due to its potential use for human consumption and hygiene, general cleaning, clothes washing, radiation shielding, cooling for extravehicular activity suits, and oxygen and hydrogen production. Various water sources are inherently present or are generated in lunar surface missions, and subject to recovery. They include: initial water stores, water contained in food, human and other solid wastes, wastewaters and associated brines, ISRU water, and scavenging from residual propellant in landers. This paper presents the results of an analysis of the contribution of water recovery from life support wastes on the overall water balance for lunar surface missions. Water in human wastes, metabolic activity and survival needs are well characterized and dependable figures are available. A detailed life support waste model was developed that summarizes the composition of life support wastes and their water content. Waste processing technologies were reviewed for their potential to recover that water. The recoverable water in waste is a significant contribution to the overall water balance. The value of this contribution is discussed in the context of the other major sources and loses of water. Combined with other analyses these results provide guidance for research and technology development and down-selection.

Drought impacts water resources required by crops and communities, in turn threatening lives and livelihoods. Early warning systems, which rely on inputs from hydro-climate models, are used to help manage risk and provide humanitarian assistance to the right place at the right time. However, translating advancements in hydro-climate science into action is a persistent and time-consuming challenge: scientists and decision-makers need to work together to enhance the salience, credibility, and legitimacy of the hydrological data products being produced. One organization that tackles this challenge is the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), which has been using evidence-based approaches to address food security since the 1980s.In this presentation, we describe the FEWS NET Land Data Assimilation System (FLDAS), developed by FEWS NET and NASA hydrologic scientists to maximize the use of limited hydro-climatic observations for humanitarian applications. The FLDAS, an instance of the NASA Land Information System (LIS), is comprised of land surface models driven by satellite rainfall inputs already familiar to FEWS NET food security analysts. First, we evaluate the quality of model outputs over parts of the Middle East and Africa using remotely sensed soil moisture and vegetation indices. We then describe derived wateravailability indices that have been identified by analysts as potentially useful sources of information. Specifically, we demonstrate how the Baseline Water Stress and Drought Severity Index detect recent wateravailability crisis events in the Tigris-Euphrates Basin and the Gaborone Reservoir, Botswana. Finally we discuss ongoing work to deliver this information to FEWS NET analysts in a timely and user-friendly manner, with the ultimate goal of integrating these wateravailability metrics into regular decision-making activities.

The aim of this study was to determine lithium concentration in potable water, surfacewater, ground, and mineral water on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia. Water samples were collected from water bodies such as multiple public water supply systems located in 13 cities, wells boreholes located in 12 areas, lakes and rivers located in three different areas. Determination of lithium concentration in potable water, surfacewater was performed by the technique of inductively coupl...

Changes in the potential energy and entropy of water molecules hydrating biomolecular interfaces play a significant role for biomolecular solubility and association. Free energy perturbation and thermodynamic integration methods allow calculations of free energy differences between two states from simulations. However, these methods are computationally demanding and do not provide insights into individual thermodynamic contributions, i.e. changes in the solvent energy or entropy. Here, we employ methods to spatially resolve distributions of hydration water thermodynamic properties in the vicinity of biomolecular surfaces. This allows direct insights into thermodynamic signatures of the hydration of hydrophobic and hydrophilic solvent accessible sites of proteins and small molecules and comparisons to ideal model surfaces. We correlate dynamic properties of hydration water molecules, i.e. translational and rotational mobility, to their thermodynamics. The latter can be used as a guide to extract thermodynamic information from experimental measurements of site-resolved water dynamics. Further, we study energy-entropy compensations of water at different hydration sites of biomolecular surfaces. This work is supported by the Cluster of Excellence RESOLV (EXC 1069) funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.

Multiphase computational models and tests of falling water droplets on inclined glass surfaces were developed to investigate the physics of impingement and potential of these droplets to self-clean glass surfaces for photovoltaic modules and heliostats. A multiphase volume-of-fluid model was developed in ANSYS Fluent to simulate the impinging droplets. The simulations considered different droplet sizes (1 mm and 3 mm), tilt angles (0deg, 10deg, and 45deg), droplet velocities (1 m/s and 3 m/s), and wetting characteristics (wetting=47deg contact angle and non-wetting = 93deg contact angle). Results showed that the spread factor (maximum droplet diameter during impact divided by the initial droplet diameter) decreased with increasing inclination angle due to the reduced normal force on the surface. The hydrophilic surface yielded greater spread factors than the hydrophobic surface in all cases. With regard to impact forces, the greater surface tilt angles yielded lower normal forces, but higher shear forces. Experiments showed that the experimentally observed spread factor (maximum droplet diameter during impact divided by the initial droplet diameter) was significantly larger than the simulated spread factor. Observed spread factors were on the order of 5 - 6 for droplet velocities of %7E3 m/s, whereas the simulated spread factors were on the order of 2. Droplets were observed to be mobile following impact only for the cases with 45deg tilt angle, which matched the simulations. An interesting phenomenon that was observed was that shortly after being released from the nozzle, the water droplet oscillated (like a trampoline) due to the "snapback" caused by the surface tension of the water droplet being released from the nozzle. This oscillation impacted the velocity immediately after the release. Future work should evaluate the impact of parameters such as tilt angle and surface wettability on the impact of particle/soiling uptake and removal to investigate ways that

This work addresses the improvement of availablewater capacity by developing a technique for estimating soil hydraulic parameters through the utilization of satellite-retrieved near surface soil moisture. The prototype involves the usage of Monte Carlo analysis to assimilate historical remote sensing soil moisture data available from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) within the hydrological model. The main hypothesis used in this study is that near-surface soil moisture data contain useful information that can describe the effective hydrological conditions of the basin such that when appropriately In the method followed in this study the hydraulic parameters are derived directly from information on the soil moisture state at the AMSR-E footprint scale and the availablewater capacity is derived for the root zone by coupling of AMSR-E soil moisture with the physically-based hydrological model. The available capacity water, which refers to difference between the field capacity and wilting point of the soil and represent the soil moisture content at 0.33 bar and 15 bar respectively is estimated from the soil hydraulic parameters using the van Genuchten equation. The initial ranges of soil hydraulic parameters are taken in correspondence with the values available from the literature based on Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database within the particular AMSR-E footprint. Using the Monte Carlo simulation, the ranges are narrowed in the region where simulation shows a good match between predicted and near-surface soil moisture from AMSR-E. In this study, the uncertainties in accurately determining the parameters of the nonlinear soil water retention function for large-scale hydrological modeling is the focus of the development of the Bayesian framework. Thus, the model forecasting has been combined with the observational information to optimize the model state and the soil hydraulic parameters simultaneously. The optimization process is divided into

Beaver ponds are surface-water features that are transient through space and time. Such qualities complicate the inclusion of beaver ponds in local and regional water balances, and in hydrological models, as reliable estimates of surface-water storage are difficult to acquire without time- and labour-intensive topographic surveys. A simpler approach to overcome this challenge is needed, given the abundance of the beaver ponds in North America, Eurasia, and southern South America. We investigated whether simple morphometric characteristics derived from readily available aerial imagery or quickly measured field attributes of beaver ponds can be used to approximate surface-water storage among the range of environmental settings in which beaver ponds are found. Studied were a total of 40 beaver ponds from four different sites in North and South America. The simplified volume-area-depth (V-A-h) approach, originally developed for prairie potholes, was tested. With only two measurements of pond depth and corresponding surface area, this method estimated surface-water storage in beaver ponds within 5 % on average. Beaver pond morphometry was characterized by a median basin coefficient of 0.91, and dam length and pond surface area were strongly correlated with beaver pond storage capacity, regardless of geographic setting. These attributes provide a means for coarsely estimating surface-water storage capacity in beaver ponds. Overall, this research demonstrates that reliable estimates of surface-water storage in beaver ponds only requires simple measurements derived from aerial imagery and/or brief visits to the field. Future research efforts should be directed at incorporating these simple methods into both broader beaver-related tools and catchment-scale hydrological models.

Full Text Available the surface. The chelated Pluronic-DMDDO ligand can be used for affinity purification of histidine tagged proteins. A regeneration formulation based on anionic SDS detergent desorbed pluronic modified polymeric membranes and the possibility of re... ingredients, household products and industrial chemicals. Surfacewaters are the main sink of said EDCs. Accurate EDC detection is usually via time consuming and costly ex situ LC-MS and GC-MS analysis. An important class of biosensors include those...

Aqueous interfaces are ubiquitous in atmospheric chemistry and biological systems but are notoriously hard to probe experimentally. Surface-specific vibrational spectroscopy offers an avenue to directly probe the vibrational modes of the water OH stretching band but this method is challenging to implement to buried surfaces. Here we present results from sum-frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy probing the buried interface between a functionalized surface and aqueous solutions. Studying such buried surfaces offers the advantage of being able to systematically tune the surface chemistry using self-assembled monolayers, i.e. the hydrophobic and hydrophilic character, and examine the effect on the interfacial water. In addition to water at these controlled surfaces, we have initiated studying water at biological surfaces. This includes the solvation structure around DNA. X-ray experiments at cryogenic temperatures have found crystallographic water in the minor grove of DNA giving rise to the notion of a spine of hydration surrounding DNA. Such structured water should exhibit a chiral structure adapted from DNA. We investigate if such a chiral water structure exist around DNA at room temperature using chiral SFG. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under a NSF CAREER Grant (CHE-1151079).

Identifying and quantifying the controls on metal mobilities in geologic systems is critical in order to understand processes such as global element cycling, metal transport in near-surfacewater-rock systems, sedimentary diagenesis, and mineral formation. Bacteria are ubiquitous in near-surfacewater-rock systems, and numerous laboratory and field studies have demonstrated that bacteria can facilitate the formation and dissolution of minerals, and enhance or inhibit contaminant transport. However, despite the growing evidence that bacteria play a key role in many geologic processes in low temperature systems, our understanding of the influence of the local nutrient dynamics of the system of interest on bacteria-metal interactions is limited. Here we present data demonstrating the effectiveness of coupling laboratory experiments with geochemical modeling to isolate the effect of nutrient availability on bacterially mediated proton and metal adsorption reactions. Experimental studies of metal-bacteria interactions were conducted in batch reactors as a function of pH, and solid-solute interactions after growth in a variety of defined and undefined media. Media nutrient composition (C,N,P) was quantified before and after harvesting the cells. Surface complexation models (SCM) for the adsorption reactions were developed by combining sorption data with the results of acid-base titrations, and in some cases zeta potential titrations of the bacterial surface. Our results indicate a clear change in both buffering potential and metal binding capacity of the cell walls of Bacillus subtilis as a function of initial media conditions. Combining current studies with our past studies on the effects of growth phase and others work on temperature dependence on metal adsorption we hope to develop a holistic surface complexation model for quantifying bacterial effects on metal mass transfer in many geologic systems.

The features of an electrical interaction between surface streamers (thin current filaments) sliding on a liquid and liquid itself are still unknown in many details. This paper presents the experimental results on properties of the surface streamers sliding on water with different conductivity (distilled and tap water). The streamers were initiated with a sharpened thin metallic needle placed above the liquid and stressed with a periodical or pulsed high voltage. Two electrode systems were used and tested. The first of them provides in advance the existence of the longitudinal electric field above the water. The second one imitates the electrode geometry of a pin-to-plane dielectric barrier discharge in which the barrier is a thick layer of liquid. The electrical and optical characteristics of streamers were complemented with data on the spectroscopic measurements. It was revealed that surface streamers on water have no spatial memory. Contribution to the topical issue "The 15th International Symposium on High Pressure Low Temperature Plasma Chemistry (HAKONE XV)", edited by Nicolas Gherardi and Tomáš Hoder

Two thirds of the flooding that occurred in the UK during summer 2007 was as a result of surfacewater (otherwise known as ‘pluvial') rather than river or coastal flooding. In response, the Environment Agency and Interim Pitt Reviews have highlighted the need for surfacewater risk mapping and warning tools to identify, and prepare for, flooding induced by heavy rainfall events. This need is compounded by the likely increase in rainfall intensities due to climate change. The Association of British Insurers has called for the Environment Agency to commission nationwide flood risk maps showing the relative risk of flooding from all sources. At the wider European scale, the recently-published EC Directive on the assessment and management of flood risks will require Member States to evaluate, map and model flood risk from a variety of sources. As such, there is now a clear and immediate requirement for the development of techniques for assessing and managing surfacewater flood risk across large areas. This paper describes an approach for integrating rainfall, drainage network and high-resolution topographic data using Flowroute™, a high-resolution flood mapping and modelling platform, to produce deterministic surfacewater flood risk maps. Information is provided from UK case studies to enable assessment and validation of modelled results using historical flood information and insurance claims data. Flowroute was co-developed with flood scientists at Cambridge University specifically to simulate river dynamics and floodplain inundation in complex, congested urban areas in a highly computationally efficient manner. It utilises high-resolution topographic information to route flows around individual buildings so as to enable the prediction of flood depths, extents, durations and velocities. As such, the model forms an ideal platform for the development of surfacewater flood risk modelling and mapping capabilities. The 2-dimensional component of Flowroute employs

Water and its major constituent, oxygen, in large specific quantities are essential for maintenance of human life. Providing them in adequate quantities is widely believed to be a major challenge for human exploration and settlement of Mars. The Martian regolith isn't known to bear either water or hydrogen, the ice-rich Martian polar regions are thermally inhospitable, and the measured water content of Mars' thin atmosphere represents a layer of liquid water of average thickness only {approx}1% that available on the Moon, or {approx}0.001 cm. Crucially, however, the atmospheric Martian water inventory is advected meteorologically to everyplace on Mars, so that the few cubic kilometers of liquid water-equivalent in the atmosphere are available anywhere when, merely for the effort of condensing it. Well-engineered apparatus deployed essentially anywhere on Mars can condense water from the atmosphere in daily quantities not much smaller than its own mass, rejecting into space from radiators deployed over the local terrain the water's heat-of-condensation and the heat from non-ideality of the equipment's operation. Thus, an optimized, photovoltaically-powered water-condensing system of {approx}0.3 tons mass could strip 40 tons of water each year from {approx} 10{sup 4} times this mass of thin, dry Martian air. Given a 490 set I{sup sp} of H{sub 2}-O{sub 2} propulsion systems exhausting into the 6 millibar Mars-surface atmosphere and the 5.0 km/s Martian gravity well, {approx}40 tons of water two-thirds converted into 5:1 O{sub 2}/H{sub 2} cryogenic fuel could support exploration and loft a crew-of-four and their 8-ton ascent vehicle into Earth-return trajectory. The remaining H{sub 2}O and excess O{sub 2} would suffice for half-open-cycle life support for a year's exploration-intensive stay on Mars. A Mars Expedition thus needs to land only explorers, dehydrated food, habitation gear and unfueled exploration/Earth-return equipment--and a water

Wateravailability for plants on a slope is usually worse, then on a plane surface. Exposure on sun radiation makes these conditions even more difficult. The key problem is how to supply plants with water. Frequently watering is good but expensive solution. To avoid often repeating of such action and/or to use as much as possible water from precipitation, it has to be retained in soil. One of the ways to increase soil water retention is superabsorbents (SAP), called often hydrogel addition to the soil. They can absorb 300 - 1000 times more water, then theirs own weight. This water can be later taken by roots system. Addition to the soil small amount of dry superabsorbent, which, after absorbing water, forms gel can affect stability of the slope top layer, diminishing soil strength parameters. Part of the strength lose can be recompensed by reinforcing action of better developed roots system, which, according to the tests are increasing soil shear strength. However because it is a living system still rest some uncertainty about its functioning over many vegetation seasons. From engineering point of view, these strength parameters are very difficult for precise calculation, control and determination of long term behaviour. Important factor of superabsorbent influence on soil shear parameters is its dosage and, as a result, final volume and properties after water absorption. If the volume of superabsorbent is not greater then available pore volume of soil, this influence is not decisive. By bigger dosage, when volume of superabsorbent with retained water is much greater then pore space volume. The soil form a suspension in hydrogel and in laboratory condition one can observe sedimentation of soil fraction at the early stage of saturation. After longer time gel's density is already high enough to support grains of soils and stop sedimentation process. By highly permeable soils, which are sometimes used in embankment construction, eg. for buttress, gel, just after

The WaterAvailability Tool for Environmental Resources (WATER) is a decision support system for the nontidal part of the Delaware River Basin that provides a consistent and objective method of simulating streamflow under historical, forecasted, and managed conditions. In order to quantify the uncertainty associated with these simulations, however, streamflow and the associated hydroclimatic variables of potential evapotranspiration, actual evapotranspiration, and snow accumulation and snowmelt must be simulated and compared to long-term, daily observations from sites. This report details model development and optimization, statistical evaluation of simulations for 57 basins ranging from 2 to 930 km2 and 11.0 to 99.5 percent forested cover, and how this statistical evaluation of daily streamflow relates to simulating environmental changes and management decisions that are best examined at monthly time steps normalized over multiple decades. The decision support system provides a database of historical spatial and climatic data for simulating streamflow for 2001–11, in addition to land-cover and general circulation model forecasts that focus on 2030 and 2060. WATER integrates geospatial sampling of landscape characteristics, including topographic and soil properties, with a regionally calibrated hillslope-hydrology model, an impervious-surface model, and hydroclimatic models that were parameterized by using three hydrologic response units: forested, agricultural, and developed land cover. This integration enables the regional hydrologic modeling approach used in WATER without requiring site-specific optimization or those stationary conditions inferred when using a statistical model.

In many countries around the world, water demand for agricultural production already exceeds wateravailability. Such situation imposes a challenge for food production under future climate change conditions and indicates the need for a policy assessment in order to identify adaptation strategies in the water sector. This contribution provides a methodology to compute wateravailability for irrigation using a GIS-based model, called "WaterAvailability and Adaptation Policy Assessment" (WAAPA). The model computes the net wateravailability for consumptive use for a river basin taking into account the regulation capacity of its water supply system and a set of management standards defined through water policy. The model was applied in 567 basins that cover the entire continental territory of Spain to estimate wateravailability under different climate change projections. The outputs of the PRUDENCE European project provide the information of the climate change scenarios. Two alternatives of management are proposed based on: reducing water allocation for agriculture, in order to obtain satisfactory water supply reliability or maintaining current water allocation for agriculture, but with the probability of reducing supply reliability. The results show equilibrium between wateravailability and agricultural demand in current conditions in the great majority of the River Basin Districts of Spain, nonetheless under climate change scenarios, the capability to satisfy the water requirements for agricultural production is significantly reduced, so as the management needs are necessary to mitigate the expected impacts to long term.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is assessing the availability and use of the Nation's water resources to gain a clearer understanding of the status of our water resources and the land-use, water-use, and climatic trends that affect them. The goal of the National assessment is to improve our ability to forecast wateravailability for future economic and environmental uses. Assessments will be completed for regional aquifer systems across the Nation to help characterize how much water we have now, how wateravailability is changing, and how much water we can expect to have in the future (Reilly and others, 2008). Wateravailability is a function of many factors, including the quantity and quality of water, and the laws, regulations, economics, and environmental factors that control its use. The focus of the Columbia Plateau regional ground-wateravailability assessment is to improve fundamental knowledge of the ground-water balance of the region, including the flows, storage, and ground-water use by humans. An improved quantitative understanding of the region's water balance not only provides key information about water quantity, but also can serve as a fundamental basis for many analyses of water quality and ecosystem health.

Semi-arid river basins often rely on reservoirs for water supply. Small reservoirs may impact on large-scale wateravailability both by enhancing availability in a distributed sense and by subtracting water for large downstream user communities, e.g. served by large reservoirs. Both of these impacts

Semi-arid river basins often rely on reservoirs for water supply. Small reservoirs may impact on large-scale wateravailability both by enhancing availability in a distributed sense and by subtracting water for large downstream user communities, e.g. served by large reservoirs. Both of these impacts

Full Text Available Analyses were conducted concerning the accumulation of four metals representing the group of macroelements, i.e. sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium in two ponds located in the city of Słupsk. Water samples for chemical analyses were collected from the surface microlayer using a Garrett net. At the same time subsurface water samples were collected. Concentrations of metals were determined using a mass spectrometer. Generally, amounts of sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium were similar in surface microlayer and subsurface water. Only in the case of potassium and calcium was low enrichment observed in the surface microlayer in one pond, while the greatest extent for magnesium enrichment was observed in the spring period.

The projection and analysis of the Pajaro Valley Hydrologic Model (PVHM) 34 years into the future using MODFLOW with the Farm Process (MF-FMP) facilitates assessment of potential future wateravailability. The projection is facilitated by the integrated hydrologic model, MF-FMP that fully couples the simulation of the use and movement of water from precipitation, streamflow, runoff, groundwater flow, and consumption by natural and agricultural vegetation throughout the hydrologic system at all times. MF-FMP allows for more complete analysis of conjunctive-use water-resource systems than previously possible with MODFLOW by combining relevant aspects of the landscape with the groundwater and surface-water components. This analysis is accomplished using distributed cell-by-cell supply-constrained and demand-driven components across the landscape within “water-balance subregions” (WBS) comprised of one or more model cells that can represent a single farm, a group of farms, watersheds, or other hydrologic or geopolitical entities. Analysis of conjunctive use would be difficult without embedding the fully coupled supply-and-demand into a fully coupled simulation, and are difficult to estimate a priori. The analysis of projected supply and demand for the Pajaro Valley indicate that the current water supply facilities constructed to provide alternative local sources of supplemental water to replace coastal groundwater pumpage, but may not completely eliminate additional overdraft. The simulation of the coastal distribution system (CDS) replicates: 20 miles of conveyance pipeline, managed aquifer recharge and recovery (MARR) system that captures local runoff, and recycled-water treatment facility (RWF) from urban wastewater, along with the use of other blend water supplies, provide partial relief and substitution for coastal pumpage (aka in-lieu recharge). The effects of these Basin Management Plan (BMP) projects were analyzed subject to historical climate variations

The 1996 amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974 created the Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP) with an objective to evaluate potential sources of contamination to drinking water intakes. The development of a Source Water Assessment Plan for Las Vegas Valley surfacewater runoff into Lake Mead is important since it will guide future work on source water protection of the main source of water. The first step was the identification of the watershed boundary and source water protection area. Two protection zones were delineated. Zone A extends 500 ft around water bodies, and Zone B extends 3000 ft from the boundaries of Zone A. These Zones extend upstream to the limits of dry weather flows in the storm channels within the Las Vegas Valley. After the protection areas were identified, the potential sources of contamination in the protection area were inventoried. Field work was conducted to identify possible sources of contamination. A GIS coverage obtained from local data sources was used to identify the septic tank locations. Finally, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Permits were obtained from the State of Nevada, and included in the inventory. After the inventory was completed, a level of risk was assigned to each potential contaminating activity (PCA). The contaminants of concern were grouped into five categories: volatile organic compounds (VOCs), synthetic organic compounds (SOCs), inorganic compounds (IOCs), microbiological, and radionuclides. The vulnerability of the water intake to each of the PCAs was assigned based on these five categories, and also on three other factors: the physical barrier effectiveness, the risk potential, and the time of travel. The vulnerability analysis shows that the PCAs with the highest vulnerability rating include septic systems, golf courses/parks, storm channels, gas stations, auto repair shops, construction, and the wastewater treatment plant discharges. Based on the current water quality

Full Text Available Traditional on-site methods for mapping and monitoring surfacewater extent are prohibitively expensive at a national scale within Canada. Despite successful cost-sharing programs between the provinces and the federal government, an extensive number of water features within the country remain unmonitored. Particularly difficult to monitor are the potholes in the Canadian Prairie region, most of which are ephemeral in nature and represent a discontinuous flow that influences water pathways, runoff response, flooding and local weather. Radarsat-2 and the Radarsat Constellation Mission (RCM offer unique capabilities to map the extent of water bodies at a national scale, including unmonitored sites, and leverage the current infrastructure of the Meteorological Service of Canada to monitor water information in remote regions. An analysis of the technical requirements of the Radarsat-2 beam mode, polarization and resolution is presented. A threshold-based procedure to map locations of non-vegetated water bodies after the ice break-up is used and complemented with a texture-based indicator to capture the most homogeneous water areas and automatically delineate their extents. Some strategies to cope with the radiometric artifacts of noise inherent to Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR images are also discussed. Our results show that Radarsat-2 Fine mode can capture 88% of the total water area in a fully automated way. This will greatly improve current operational procedures for surfacewater monitoring information and impact a number of applications including weather forecasting, hydrological modeling, and drought/flood predictions.

Full Text Available The study of water exchange in a region or area, which emphasizes the principle of conservation of matter in the water cycle, is called balance. Investigating their balance is the basis for managing the rivers’ water management, the results of which refer to the change rate in surfacewater supply and can efficiently be used in decision making and optimal use of water resources. The present study was carried out in order to investigate the surfacewater balance in Kurdistan province using GIS. In so doing, digital topographic maps, soil map of the area, and meteorological data retrieved from the regional stations were used to prepare layers of precipitation, evaporation and infiltration of rainwater into the soil. Discharge-arearegion comparative method was employed to measure the amount of runoff and base flow for each sub-basin in raster form saved per unit area which was subsequently overlapped based on balance equation, and the balance of the region was displayed in a graphical mode. The results indicated that more surfacewater is wasted in the southeast and central area of the province.

Cholera epidemics are still a major public health concern to date in many areas of the world. In order to understand and forecast cholera outbreaks, one of the most important factors is the role played by the environmental matrix in which the disease spreads. We study how river networks, acting as environmental corridors for pathogens, affect the spreading of cholera epidemics. The environmental matrix in which the disease spreads is constituted by different human communities and their hydrologic interconnections. Each community is characterized by its spatial position, population size, water resources availability and hygiene conditions. By implementing a spatially explicit cholera model we seek the effects on epidemic dynamics of: i) the topology and metrics of the pathogens pathways that connect different communities; ii) the spatial distribution of the population size; and iii) the spatial distributions and quality of surfacewater resources and public health conditions, and how they vary with population size. The model has been applied to study the space-time evolution of a well documented cholera epidemic occurred in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The epidemic lasted for two years and involved about 140,000 confirmed cholera cases. The model does well in reproducing the distribution of the cholera cases during the two outbreaks as well as their spatial spreading. We further extend the model by deriving the speed of propagation of traveling fronts in the case of uniformly distributed systems for different topologies: one and two dimensional lattices and river networks. The derivation of the spreading celerity proves instrumental in establishing the overall conditions for the relevance of spatially explicit models. The conditions are sought by comparison between spreading and disease timescales. Consider a cholera epidemic that starts from a point and spreads throughout a finite size system, it is possible to identify two different timescales: i

Superliquid repellency can be achieved by nano- and microstructuring surfaces in such a way that protrusions entrap air underneath the liquid. It is still not known how the three-phase contact line advances on such structured surfaces. In contrast to a smooth surface, where the contact line can advance continuously, on a superliquid-repellent surface, the contact line has to overcome an air gap between protrusions. Here, we apply laser scanning confocal microscopy to get the first microscopic videos of water drops advancing on a superhydrophobic array of micropillars. In contrast to common belief, the liquid surface gradually bends down until it touches the top face of the next micropillars. The apparent advancing contact angle is 180°. On the receding side, pinning to the top faces of the micropillars determines the apparent receding contact angle. Based on these observations, we propose that the apparent receding contact angle should be used for characterizing superliquid-repellent surfaces rather than the apparent advancing contact angle and hysteresis.

Drought in Africa has been extensively researched, particularly from meteorological, agricultural, and food security perspectives. However, the impact of drought on water security, particularly ground water dependent rural water supplies, has received much less attention. Policy responses have concentrated on food needs, and it has often been difficult to mobilize resources for water interventions, despite evidence that access to safe water is a serious and interrelated concern. Studies carried out in Ghana, Malawi, South Africa, and Ethiopia highlight how rural livelihoods are affected by seasonal stress and longer-term drought. Declining access to food and water is a common and interrelated problem. Although ground water plays a vital role in buffering the effects of rainfall variability, water shortages and difficulties in accessing water that is available can affect domestic and productive water uses, with knock-on effects on food consumption and production. Total depletion of available ground water resources is rarely the main concern. A more common scenario is a spiral of water insecurity as shallow water sources fail, additional demands are put on remaining sources, and mechanical failures increase. These problems can be planned for within normal development programs. Water security mapping can help identify vulnerable areas, and changes to monitoring systems can ensure early detection of problems. Above all, increasing the coverage of ground water-based rural water supplies, and ensuring that the design and siting of water points is informed by an understanding of hydrogeological conditions and user demand, can significantly increase the resilience of rural communities to climate variability.

Earth's surface is rapidly urbanizing, resulting in dramatic changes in the abundance, distribution and character of surfacewater features in urban landscapes. However, the scope and consequences of surfacewater redistribution at broad spatial scales are not well understood. We hypothesized that urbanization would lead to convergent surfacewater abundance and...

Full Text Available Cyanobacteria in fresh water can cause serious threats to drinking water supplies. Managing cyanobacterial blooms particularly at small drinking water treatment plants is challenging. Because large amount of cyanobacteria may cause clogging in the treatment process and various cyanotoxins are hard to remove, while they may cause severe health problems. There is lack of instructions of what cyanobacteria/toxin amount should trigger what kind of actions for drinking water management except for Microcystins. This demands a Cyanobacteria Management Tool (CMT to help regulators/operators to improve cyanobacteria/cyanotoxin monitoring in surfacewaters for drinking water supply. This project proposes a CMT tool, including selecting proper indicators for quick cyanobacteria monitoring and verifying quick analysis methods for cyanobacteria and cyanotoxin. This tool is suggested for raw water management regarding cyanobacteria monitoring in lakes, especially in boreal forest climate. In addition, it applies to regions that apply international WHO standards for water management. In Swedish context, drinking water producers which use raw water from lakes that experience cyanobacterial blooms, need to create a monitoring routine for cyanobacteria/cyanotoxin and to monitor beyond such as Anatoxins, Cylindrospermopsins and Saxitoxins. Using the proposed CMT tool will increase water safety at surfacewater treatment plants substantially by introducing three alerting points for actions. CMT design for each local condition should integrate adaptive monitoring program.

Reconstructing past wateravailability, both as rainfall and irrigation, is important to answer questions about the way society reacts to climate and its changes and the role of irrigation in the development of social complexity. Carbon stable isotope analysis of archaeobotanical remains is a potentially valuable method for reconstructing wateravailability. To further define the relationship between wateravailability and plant carbon isotope composition and to set up baseline values for the...

Full Text Available A survey of surface, spring and borehole waters associated with the ophiolite rocks of Cyprus shows five broad water types (1 Mg-HCO3, (2 Na-SO4-Cl-HCO3, (3 Na-Ca-Cl-SO4-OH-CO3, (4 Na-Cl-SO4 and (5 Ca-SO4. The waters represent a progression in chemical reactivity from surfacewaters that evolve within a groundwater setting due to hydrolysis of the basic/ultrabasic rock as modified by CO2-weathering. An increase in salinity is also observed which is due to mixing with a saline end-member (modified sea-water and dissolution of gypsum/anhydrite. In some cases, the waters have pH values greater than 11. Such high values are associated with low temperature serpentinisation reactions. The system is a net sink for CO2. This feature is related not only to the hydrolysis of the primary minerals in the rock, but also to CaCO3 or Ca-Mg-CO3 solubility controls. Under hyperalkaline conditions, virtually all the carbon dioxide is lost from the water due to the sufficiently high calcium levels and carbonate buffering is then insignificant. Calcium sulphate solubility controls may also be operative when calcium and sulphate concentrations are particularly high. Keywords: Cyprus, Troodos, ophiolite, serpentinisation, spring, stream, water quality, bromide, iodine, boron, trace elements, hyperalkaline.

Endophytic fungi associated with mature pecan (Carya illinoensis (Wangenh.) C. Koch) nuts prevented successful, contaminant-free in vitro culture of embryo expiants, even after rigorous surface disinfestation of the nuts and careful aseptic shelling. Disinfestation with sodium hypochlorite after shell removal was also unsuccessful, because even dilute concentrations which were ineffective against the fungal contaminants prevented subsequent growth from the embryo. Explanting media with low wateravailability which would not sustain growth of fungal contaminants, but supported growth from mature pecan embryos, were developed as an alternative disinfestation method. The explanting media were supplemented with 0.9-1.5% agar, and other media components were selectively omitted to test their influence on wateravailability and fungal growth. Disinfestation of up to 65% of the cultures was accomplished, depending on the medium formulation, compared to 100% loss to contamination on control medium (0.5% agar). A complete medium (containing sucrose, salts, vitamins, 18 μM BAP, and 5 μM IBA) with 1.5% agar provided control of contamination, and encouraged subsequent regeneration from the embryo expiants, which remained free of contaminant growth through subsequent subcultures.

Background and objective: Chemical cleansing by denture cleansers is first choice for denture plaque control. The most common problems while using denture cleansers are hardening, porosity, odor sorption, water sorption, solubility, and colour change, bacterial and fungal growth. Chemical cleansing procedures have been found to have an effect on the physical and mechanical properties of denture liners. Thus, this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of commercially available denture cleansers on surface hardness and roughness of acrylic and silicon based denture liners at various time interval. Method: Two autopolymerising denture liners Kooliner (acrylic) and GC reline soft (silicon) were tested with two commercially available denture cleansers, polident and efferdent plus. Total of 120 specimens were prepared and all the specimens were divided into six groups based on the relining materials and denture cleansers used. Surface hardness and surface roughness was tested using Shore A durometer and profilometer respectively at the end of day 1, day 7, day 30 and day 90. All the specimens were stored in artificial saliva throughout the study. Cleanser solution was prepared daily by adding Polident and Efferdent plus denture cleanser tablet into 250ml of enough very warm (not hot) water. Acrylic and silicon liner groups were cleansed in a solution of denture cleanser and water for 15 minutes daily, rinsed with water and stored in artificial saliva at room temperature. The data was analyzed with one way ANOVA and independent t-test. Result: The acrylic soft lining showed gradual hardening and increase in surface roughness after immersion in denture cleanser and also with time. Acrylic liner material showed maximum hardness and roughness with Polident followed by Efferdent plus and water (control group). Silicone lining material showed a slight difference in hardness and roughness between the test group and control group. There was a slight increase in hardness in

Bacteriophages are increasingly used as tracers for quantitative analysis in both hydrology and hydrogeology. The biological particles are neither toxic nor pathogenic for other living organisms as they penetrate only a specific bacterial host. They have many advantages over classical fluorescent tracers and offer the additional possibility of multi-point injection for tracer tests. Several years of research make them suitable for quantitative transport analysis and flow boundary delineation in both surface and ground waters, including karst, fractured and porous media aquifers. This article presents the effective application of bacteriophages based on their use in differing Swiss hydrological environments and compares their behaviour to conventional coloured dye or salt-type tracers. In surfacewater and karst aquifers, bacteriophages travel at about the same speed as the typically referenced fluorescent tracers (uranine, sulphurhodamine G extra). In aquifers of interstitial porosity, however, they appear to migrate more rapidly than fluorescent tracers, albeit with a significant reduction in their numbers within the porous media. This faster travel time implies that a modified rationale is needed for defining some ground water protection area boundaries. Further developments of other bacteriophages and their documentation as tracer methods should result in an accurate and efficient tracer tool that will be a proven alternative to conventional fluorescent dyes.

The evaporation dynamics of water from sticky superhydrophobic surfaces was investigated using a quartz crystal microresonator and an optical microscope. Anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) layers with different pore sizes were directly fabricated onto quartz crystal substrates and hydrophobized via chemical modification. The resulting AAO layers exhibited hydrophobic or superhydrophobic characteristics with strong adhesion to water due to the presence of sealed air pockets inside the nanopores. After placing a water droplet on the AAO membranes, variations in the resonance frequency and Q-factor were measured throughout the evaporation process, which were related to changes in mass and viscous damping, respectively. It was found that droplet evaporation from a sticky superhydrophobic surface followed a constant contact radius (CCR) mode in the early stage of evaporation and a combination of CCR and constant contact angle modes without a Cassie-Wenzel transition in the final stage. Furthermore, AAO membranes with larger pore sizes exhibited longer evaporation times, which were attributed to evaporative cooling at the droplet interface.

This report examines the distribution and availability of water quality reports in the state of Oklahoma. Based on legislation from the Clean Water Act and regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency's "Public Participation Handbook for Water Quality Management," depository libraries must be established to provide citizen access to…

Understanding impacts of hydrological and climatological functions under changing climate on regional floods, droughts as well as agricultural commodities remain a serious challenge in tropical agricultural basins. These "tropical agricultural basins" are regions where: (i) the understanding on hydrologic functions (such as precipitation, soil moisture, evapotranspiration, surface runoff, vegetation) are not well established; (ii) increasing population is at the convergence of rural and urban boundaries; (iii) resilience and sustainability of the water resources under different climatic conditions is unknown; and, (iv) agriculture is the primary occupation for majority of the population. More than 95% of the farmed lands in tropical regions are rainfed and 60% of total agricultural production in South Asia relying on seasonal rainfall. Tropical regions frequently suffer from unexpected droughts and sudden flash floods, resulting in massive losses in human lives and affecting regional economy. Prediction of frequency, intensity and magnitude of floods in tropical regions is still a subject of debate and research. A clear example is from the massive floods in the Eastern Indus River in July 2010 that submerged 17 million acre of fertile cropland. Yet, seasonal droughts, such as 2014 rain deficits in Indus Basin, had no effects on annual crop yields - thus creating a paradox. Large amounts of groundwater is being used to supplement water needs for crops during drought conditions, leading to oversubscription of natural aquifers. Key reason that rainfed agriculture is relying heavily on groundwater is because of the uncertainty in timing and distribution of precipitation in the tropical regions, where such data are not routinely collected as well as the basins are transnational, thus limiting sharing of data. Assessment of availability of water for agricultural purposes a serious challenge in tropical regions. This study will provide a framework for using multi

We conducted experiments on seed germination, seedling survival and seedling growth of four Eucalyptus species to identify factors that might explain why they are restricted to the two major soil types in southwestern Australia, deep sands ( E. macrocarpa, E. tetragona) and lateritic loam ( E. loxophleba, E. wandoo). At high temperatures (28 °C), germination in darkness was lower for the two 'loam species' than for the 'sand species', while there were no differences in light or at low temperatures (10 °C). Germination commenced earlier, and was faster in the sand species than in the loam species, but was almost inhibited in all species by -1.0 MPa. E. tetragona proved the most drought-tolerant in terms of germination level and seedling survival. Seedlings of the sand species had much longer roots two weeks after germination in the absence of water stress, and the roots of more seedlings continued to elongate under moderate water stress (-1.0 MPa), than the two loam species. Roots were longer in all species, except E. macrocarpa, at -0.5 MPa than at -0.1 MPa, despite seedlings having a smaller mass and hypocotyl length. As wateravailability declined, there was a tendency for the sand species to survive longer on sand than on loam while soil type had no effect on the loam species. Pattern and duration of seedling survival of the loam species was similar to that of the sand species despite their smaller seeds. We conclude that seedlings from the large-seeded sand species are able to penetrate the soil profile faster and deeper, but that they are not less prone to drying soils than seedlings from the small-seeded loam species. Instead, seed size and germination speed are important prerequisites to cope successfully with unstable soil surfaces and to exploit the rapidly descending water in deep sands.

Wateravailability monitoring is an essential task for water resource sustainability and security. In this paper, the assessment of satellite remote sensing technique for determining wateravailability is reported. The water-balance analysis is used to compute the spatio-temporal wateravailability with main inputs; the precipitation and actual evapotranspiration rate (AET), both fully derived from public-domain satellite products of Tropical Rainfall Measurement Mission (TRMM) and MODIS, respectively. Both these satellite products were first subjected to calibration to suit corresponding selected local precipitation and AET samples. Multi-temporal data sets acquired 2000-2010 were used in this study. The results of study, indicated strong agreement of monthly wateravailability with the basin flow rate (r2 = 0.5, p < 0.001). Similar agreements were also noted between the estimated annual average wateravailability with the in-situ measurement. It is therefore concluded that the method devised in this study provide a new alternative for wateravailability mapping over large area, hence offers the only timely and cost-effective method apart from providing comprehensive spatio-temporal patterns, crucial in water resource planning to ensure water security.

Full Text Available Membrane technology has emerged as an attractive approach for water purification, while mitigation of fouling is key to lower membrane operating costs. This article reviews various materials with antifouling properties that can be coated or grafted onto the membrane surface to improve the antifouling properties of the membranes and thus, retain high water permeance. These materials can be separated into three categories, hydrophilic materials, such as poly(ethylene glycol, polydopamine and zwitterions, hydrophobic materials, such as fluoropolymers, and amphiphilic materials. The states of water in these materials and the mechanisms for the antifouling properties are discussed. The corresponding approaches to coat or graft these materials on the membrane surface are reviewed, and the materials with promising performance are highlighted.

Full Text Available ABSTRACT The technology of irrigation is vital for agricultural production. Thus, description of spatial patterns of both water application and availablewater capacity in the soil, as well as their interactions, is essential to maximize efficiency of water use in irrigated areas. The objective of this study was to analyze spatial variability of availablewater capacity in the soil and water application via irrigation using geostatistics. The experiment was conducted in a commercial mango orchard in Cambisol irrigated by micro sprinkler system, in the municipality of Alto do Rodrigues, RN. Analyses of descriptive statistics and geostatistics were performed using the programs GeoR and GS+. Geostatistics was found suitable for describing the structure of spatial dependence of availablewater capacity in the soil and the flow rate distributed in the area by sprinklers. Moreover, even with good results for Christiansen Uniformity Coefficient (CU and Distribution Uniformity Coefficient (DU, the area showed spatial variability of flow rate.

A study is presented on the adsorption of phosphate on goethite, the interaction of phosphate with other adsorbing ions at the goethite surface, and the resulting availability of phosphate to plants. The plant-availability of sorbed phosphate was determined from phosphorus uptake of plants growing o

In this report, we present recorded and reconstructed (pre-historical) changes in water levels in the Great Lakes, relate them to climate changes of the past, and highlight major water-availability implications for storage, coastal ecosystems, and human activities. 'Wateravailability,' as conceptualized herein, includes a recognition that water must be available for human and natural uses, but the balancing of how much should be set aside for which use is not discussed. The Great Lakes Basin covers a large area of North America. The lakes capture and store great volumes of water that are critical in maintaining human activities and natural ecosystems. Water enters the lakes mostly in the form of precipitation and streamflow. Although flow through the connecting channels is a primary output from the lakes, evaporation is also a major output. Water levels in the lakes vary naturally on timescales that range from hours to millennia; storage of water in the lakes changes at the seasonal to millennial scales in response to lake-level changes. Short-term changes result from storm surges and seiches and do not affect storage. Seasonal changes are driven by differences in net basin supply during the year related to snowmelt, precipitation, and evaporation. Annual to millennial changes are driven by subtle to major climatic changes affecting both precipitation (and resulting streamflow) and evaporation. Rebounding of the Earth's surface in response to loss of the weight of melted glaciers has differentially affected water levels. Rebound rates have not been uniform across the basin, causing the hydrologic outlet of each lake to rise in elevation more rapidly than some parts of the coastlines. The result is a long-term change in lake level with respect to shoreline features that differs from site to site. The reconstructed water-level history of Lake Michigan-Huron over the past 4,700 years shows three major high phases from 2,300 to 3,300, 1,100 to 2,000, and 0 to 800

This study aimed to establish the relationship between the prevalence of active trachoma in children, wateravailability and household water use in a village in Tanzania. Nine hundred and fourteen children aged 1-9 years were examined for signs of trachoma. Data were collected on time taken to collect water, amount of water collected and other trachoma risk factors. In a sub-study, 99 randomly selected households were visited twice daily on two consecutive days to document patterns of water use. The prevalence of active trachoma in the children examined was 18.4% (95% CI 15.9-20.9). Active trachoma prevalence increased with increasing water collection time (OR 2.25; 95% CI 1.13-4.46) but was unrelated to the amount of water collected. In the sub-study, active trachoma prevalence was substantially lower in children from households where more water was used for personal hygiene (P for trend < or =0.01), independent of the total amount of water used. The allocation of water to hygiene was predicted by lower water collection time. The key element in the relationship between wateravailability and trachoma is the allocation of water within households. Collection time may influence both the quantity of water collected and its allocation within the household.

Nitrate reducing activity (NRA) is known to be mediated by microaerophilic to anaerobic bacteria and generally occurs in the sub-surfacewaters. However, we hypothesize that NRA could become prominent in the surfacewaters during upwelling. Hence...

Future of the crucial Himalayan water supplies has generally been assessed under the anthropogenic warming, typically consistent amid observations and climate model projections. However, conflicting mid-to-late melt-season cooling within the upper Indus basin (UIB) suggests that the future of its melt-dominated hydrological regime and the subsequent wateravailability under changing climate has yet been understood only indistinctly. Here, the future wateravailability from the UIB is presente...

The WaterAvailability Tool for Environmental Resources (WATER) is a decision support system (DSS) for the nontidal part of the Delaware River Basin (DRB) that provides a consistent and objective method of simulating streamflow under historical, forecasted, and managed conditions. WATER integrates geospatial sampling of landscape characteristics, including topographic and soil properties, with a regionally calibrated hillslope-hydrology model, an impervious-surface model, and hydroclimatic models that have been parameterized using three hydrologic response units—forested, agricultural, and developed land cover. It is this integration that enables the regional hydrologic-modeling approach used in WATER without requiring site-specific optimization or those stationary conditions inferred when using a statistical model. The DSS provides a “historical” database, ideal for simulating streamflow for 2001–11, in addition to land-cover forecasts that focus on 2030 and 2060. The WATER Application Utilities are provided with the DSS and apply change factors for precipitation, temperature, and potential evapotranspiration to a 1981–2011 climatic record provided with the DSS. These change factors were derived from a suite of general circulation models (GCMs) and representative concentration pathway (RCP) emission scenarios. These change factors are based on 25-year monthly averages (normals) that are centere on 2030 and 2060. The WATER Application Utilities also can be used to apply a 2010 snapshot of water use for the DRB; a factorial approach enables scenario testing of increased or decreased water use for each simulation. Finally, the WATER Application Utilities can be used to reformat streamflow time series for input to statistical or reservoir management software.

Plant trichomes play important protective functions and may have a major influence on leaf surface wettability. With the aim of gaining insight into trichome structure, composition and function in relation to water-plant surface interactions, we analyzed the adaxial and abaxial leaf surface of Quercus ilex L. (holm oak) as model. By measuring the leaf water potential 24 h after the deposition of water drops on to abaxial and adaxial surfaces, evidence for water penetration through the upper l...

Groundwater–surfacewater interactions constitute an important link between wetlands and the surrounding catchment. Wetlands may develop in topographic lows where groundwater exfiltrates. This water has its functions for ecological processes within the wetland, while surfacewater outflow from

Publikatie die bestaat uit twee delen: 1. General survey of the relation between water quantity and water quality; 2. Conclusions with regard to the connection of water quantity and water quality studies of surfacewaters

Biofuels are a major topic of global interest and technology development. Whereas bioenergy crop production is highly dependent on water, bioenergy development requires effective allocation and management of water. The objectives of this investigation were to assess the bioenergy production relative to the impacts on water resource related factors: (1) climate and weather impact on water supplies for biomass production; (2) water use for major bioenergy crop production; and (3) potential alternatives to improve water supplies for bioenergy. Shifts to alternative bioenergy crops with greater water demand may produce unintended consequences for both water resources and energy feedstocks. Sugarcane and corn require 458 and 2036 m(3) water/m(3) ethanol produced, respectively. The water requirements for corn grain production to meet the US-DOE Billion-Ton Vision may increase approximately 6-fold from 8.6 to 50.1 km(3). Furthermore, climate change is impacting water resources throughout the world. In the western US, runoff from snowmelt is occurring earlier altering the timing of wateravailability. Weather extremes, both drought and flooding, have occurred more frequently over the last 30 years than the previous 100 years. All of these weather events impact bioenergy crop production. These events may be partially mitigated by alternative water management systems that offer potential for more effective water use and conservation. A few potential alternatives include controlled drainage and new next-generation livestock waste treatment systems. Controlled drainage can increase wateravailable to plants and simultaneously improve water quality. New livestock waste treatments systems offer the potential to utilize treated wastewater to produce bioenergy crops. New technologies for cellulosic biomass conversion via thermochemical conversion offer the potential for using more diverse feedstocks with dramatically reduced water requirements. The development of bioenergy

Humans have strongly impacted the global water cycle, not only water flows but also water storage. We have performed a first global-scale analysis of the impact of water withdrawals on water storage variations, using the global water resources and use model WaterGAP. This required estimation of fractions of total water withdrawals from groundwater, considering five water use sectors. According to our assessment, the source of 35% of the water withdrawn worldwide (4300 cubic km/yr during 1998-2002) is groundwater. Groundwater contributes 42%, 36% and 27% of water used for irrigation, households and manufacturing, respectively, while we assume that only surfacewater is used for livestock and for cooling of thermal power plants. Consumptive water use was 1400 cubic km/yr during 1998-2002. It is the sum of the net abstraction of 250 cubic km/yr of groundwater (taking into account evapotranspiration and return flows of withdrawn surfacewater and groundwater) and the net abstraction of 1150 km3/yr of surfacewater. Computed net abstractions indicate, for the first time at the global scale, where and when human water withdrawals decrease or increase groundwater or surfacewater storage. In regions with extensive surfacewater irrigation, such as Southern China, net abstractions from groundwater are negative, i.e. groundwater is recharged by irrigation. The opposite is true for areas dominated by groundwater irrigation, such as in the High Plains aquifer of the central USA, where net abstraction of surfacewater is negative because return flow of withdrawn groundwater recharges the surfacewater compartments. In intensively irrigated areas, the amplitude of seasonal total water storage variations is generally increased due to human water use; however, in some areas, it is decreased. For the High Plains aquifer and the whole Mississippi basin, modeled groundwater and total water storage variations were compared with estimates of groundwater storage variations based on

Full Text Available In this article, we deal with a progressive production technology using the water jet cutting technology with the addition of abrasives for material removal. This technology is widely used in cutting various shapes, but also for the technology of machining such as turning, milling, drilling and cutting of threads. The aim of this article was to analyse the surface of selected types of metallic materials after abrasive machining, i.e. by assessing the impact of selected machining parameters on the surface roughness of metallic materials.

This chart presents population figures and total annual renewable fresh wateravailable by country for 100 countries as well as estimates of per capita wateravailability based on these figures for 1955, for 1990, and for the UN medium population projection for 2025 and 2050. Graphs are provided which illustrate the population experiencing fresh water scarcity for 1990-2050 according to the UN's low, medium, and high population projections. The low projection (7.9 billion) shows 3.5 billion people living in 51 water-short countries, the medium projection (nearly 10 billion) has 4.4 billion people living in 58 water-short countries, and the high projection (11.9 billion) places 7.7 billion people in 66 water-short nations. Thus, there is an urgent need for population stabilization policies as well as efforts to ensure that all people have access to clean fresh water.

Knowledge of plant responses to soil wateravailability is essential for the development of efficient irrigation strategies.However,notably different results have been obtained in the past on the responses of various physiological indices for different plants to soil wateravailability.In this study,the responses of various plant processes to soil wateravailability were compared with data from pot and field plot experiments conducted on maize (Zea mays L.).Consistent results were obtained between pot and field plot experiments for the responses of various relative plant indices to changes in the fraction of available soil water (FASW).A threshold value,where the relative plant indices began to decrease with soil drying,and a lower water limit,where the decline of relative plant indices changed to a very slow rate,were found.Evaporative demand not only influenced the transpiration rate over a daily scale but also determined the difference in transpirational response to soil wateravailability among the transient,daily and seasonal time scales.At the seasonal scale,cumulative transpiration decreased linearly with soil drying,but the decrease of transpiration from FASW =1 in response to water deficits did not affect dry weight until FASW =0.75.On the other hand,the decrease in dry weight was comparable with plant height and leaf area.Therefore,the plant responses to soil wateravailability were notably different among various plant indices of maize and were influenced by the weather conditions.

Full Text AvailableWateravailability has a significant role on human life, particularly for the rural, agrarian communities. This study aimed to investigate the diverse conditions of wateravailability in Pusur sub-watershed, Bengawan Solo watershed, and the livelihood strategies of the local community in responding to the wateravailability. The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods of data analysis, and the data was collected through questionnaire, in-depth interview, and observation. On the wateravailability, the study used the following variables: (1 quality, (2 quantity, (3 spatial and temporal distribution, (4 access, (5 social-economy, and (5 institutional aspect. On the livelihood strategies, it uses: (1 reaction and (2 anticipation for water deficit. In term of sampling methods, the study used area and purposive sampling, by splitting the study site into the upper, middle, and lower area. The analysis of this study indicates that the level of wateravailability in the upper area is considered low. The community living in the upper area depends upon rainwater for its agricultural sector, and upon the water supply distributed by pipelines and tanker trucks for its household. The study also indicates that the middle area has abundant water supply, but the quality has been declined due to pollution, poor sanitation system, and potential conflict among the community members. Meanwhile, in the lower area, particularly in the dry season, irrigation water has been inadequate. Responding to the diverse wateravailability, the community has applied the following livelihood strategies: (1 leaving the agricultural land uncultivated in the upper area, and (2 pumping wells and rivers in the middle and lower areas. In addition, as part of its precautions actions, the community has applied: (1 agroforestry system at the upper area, (2 improved the irrigation system of the middle area, and (3 creating wells and using water pumps in the lower area.

The population of Delta County, Colorado, like that in much of the Western United States, is forecast to increase substantially in the next few decades. A substantial portion of the increased population likely will reside in rural subdivisions and use residential wells for domestic water supplies. In Colorado, a subdivision developer is required to submit a water-supply plan through the county for approval by the Colorado Division of Water Resources. If the water supply is to be provided by wells, the water-supply plan must include a water-supply report. The water-supply report demonstrates the availability, sustainability, and suitability of the water supply for the proposed subdivision. During 2006, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Delta County, Colorado, began a study to develop criteria that the Delta County Land Use Department can use to evaluate water-supply reports for proposed subdivisions. A table was prepared that lists the types of analyses and data that may be needed in a water-supply report for a water-supply plan that proposes the use of ground water. A preliminary analysis of the availability, sustainability, and suitability of the ground-water resources of Rogers Mesa, Delta County, Colorado, was prepared for a hypothetical subdivision to demonstrate hydrologic analyses and data that may be needed for water-supply reports for proposed subdivisions. Rogers Mesa is a 12-square-mile upland mesa located along the north side of the North Fork Gunnison River about 15 miles east of Delta, Colorado. The principal land use on Rogers Mesa is irrigated agriculture, with about 5,651 acres of irrigated cropland, grass pasture, and orchards. The principal source of irrigation water is surfacewater diverted from the North Fork Gunnison River and Leroux Creek. The estimated area of platted subdivisions on or partially on Rogers Mesa in 2007 was about 4,792 acres of which about 2,756 acres was irrigated land in 2000. The principal aquifer on Rogers

Full Text Available To sustain growing food demand and increasing standard of living, global water withdrawal and consumptive water use have been increasing rapidly. To analyze the human perturbation on water resources consistently over a large scale, a number of macro-scale hydrological models (MHMs have been developed over the recent decades. However, few models consider the feedback between wateravailability and water demand, and even fewer models explicitly incorporate water allocation from surfacewater and groundwater resources. Here, we integrate a global water demand model into a global water balance model, and simulate water withdrawal and consumptive water use over the period 1979–2010, considering water allocation from surfacewater and groundwater resources and explicitly taking into account feedbacks between supply and demand, using two re-analysis products: ERA-Interim and MERRA. We implement an irrigation water scheme, which works dynamically with daily surface and soil water balance, and include a newly available extensive reservoir data set. Simulated surfacewater and groundwater withdrawal show generally good agreement with available reported national and sub-national statistics. The results show a consistent increase in both surfacewater and groundwater use worldwide, but groundwater use has been increasing more rapidly than surfacewater use since the 1990s. Human impacts on terrestrial water storage (TWS signals are evident, altering the seasonal and inter-annual variability. The alteration is particularly large over the heavily regulated basins such as the Colorado and the Columbia, and over the major irrigated basins such as the Mississippi, the Indus, and the Ganges. Including human water use generally improves the correlation of simulated TWS anomalies with those of the GRACE observations.

Elucidating the physical effect of cholesterol (Chol) on biological membranes is necessary towards rationalizing their structural and functional role in cell membranes. One of the debated questions is the role of hydration water in Chol-embedding lipid membranes, for which only little direct experimental data are available. Here, we study the hydration dynamics in a series of Chol-rich and depleted bilayer systems using an approach termed {sup 1}H Overhauser dynamic nuclear polarization (ODNP) NMR relaxometry that enables the sensitive and selective determination of water diffusion within 5–10 Å of a nitroxide-based spin label, positioned off the surface of the polar headgroups or within the nonpolar core of lipid membranes. The Chol-rich membrane systems were prepared from mixtures of Chol, dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine and/or dioctadecyl phosphatidylcholine lipid that are known to form liquid-ordered, raft-like, domains. Our data reveal that the translational diffusion of local water on the surface and within the hydrocarbon volume of the bilayer is significantly altered, but in opposite directions: accelerated on the membrane surface and dramatically slowed in the bilayer interior with increasing Chol content. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) lineshape analysis shows looser packing of lipid headgroups and concurrently tighter packing in the bilayer core with increasing Chol content, with the effects peaking at lipid compositions reported to form lipid rafts. The complementary capability of ODNP and EPR to site-specifically probe the hydration dynamics and lipid ordering in lipid membrane systems extends the current understanding of how Chol may regulate biological processes. One possible role of Chol is the facilitation of interactions between biological constituents and the lipid membrane through the weakening or disruption of strong hydrogen-bond networks of the surface hydration layers that otherwise exert stronger repulsive forces, as reflected in

Water-based lubrication provides cheap and environmentally friendly lubrication and, although hydrophilic surfaces are preferred in water-based lubrication, often lubricating surfaces do not retain water molecules during shear. We show here that hydrophilic (42° water contact angle) quartz surfaces facilitate water-based lubrication to the same extent as more hydrophobic Si crystal surfaces (61°), while lubrication by hydrophilic Ge crystal surfaces (44°) is best. Thus surface hydrophilicity is not sufficient for water-based lubrication. Surface-thermodynamic analyses demonstrated that all surfaces, regardless of their water-based lubrication, were predominantly electron donating, implying water binding with their hydrogen groups. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that Ge crystal surfaces providing optimal lubrication consisted of a mixture of -O and =O functionalities, while Si crystal and quartz surfaces solely possessed -O functionalities. Comparison of infrared absorption bands of the crystals in water indicated fewer bound-water layers on hydrophilic Ge than on hydrophobic Si crystal surfaces, while absorption bands for free water on the Ge crystal surface indicated a much more pronounced presence of structured, free-water clusters near the Ge crystal than near Si crystal surfaces. Accordingly, we conclude that the presence of structured, free-water clusters is essential for water-based lubrication. The prevalence of structured water clusters can be regulated by adjusting the ratio between surface electron-donating and electron-accepting groups and between -O and =O functionalities.

Several analytical methods were employed to determine the concentrations of cholinesterase inhibitors in several Dutch surfacewaters. An Auto-Analyzer method was used for screening purposes; thin-layer chromatography and gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry were used for identification and q

Full Text Available This study investigates the effects of projected climate change on snow wateravailability in the Euphrates-Tigris basin using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC macro scale hydrologic model and a set of regional climate-change outputs from 13 global circulation models (GCMs forced with two greenhouse gas emission scenarios for two time periods in the 21st century (2050 and 2090. The hydrologic model produces a reasonable simulation of seasonal and spatial variation in snow cover and associated snow water equivalent (SWE in the mountainous areas of the basin, although its performance is poorer at marginal snow cover sites. While there is great variation across GCM outputs influencing snow wateravailability, the majority of models and scenarios suggest a significant decline (between 10 and 60 percent in available snow water, particularly under the aggressive A2 climate change scenario and later in the 21st century. The changes in SWE are more stable when multi-model ensemble GCM outputs are used to minimize inter-model variability, suggesting a consistent and significant decrease in snow-covered areas and associated wateravailability in the headwaters of the Euphrates Tigris basin. Detailed analysis of future climatic conditions point to the combined effects of reduced precipitation and increased temperatures as primary drivers of reduced snowpack. Results also indicate a more rapid decline in snow cover in the lower elevation zones than the higher areas in a changing climate. The simulated changes in snow wateravailability have important implications for the future of water resources and associated hydropower generation and land-use management and planning in a region already ripe for interstate water conflict. While the changes in the frequency and intensity of snow-bearing circulation systems or the interannual variability related to climate were not considered, the simulated changes in snow wateravailability presented here are likely

The need and demand for water in the world are becoming acute with the growing population. This is mostly pressing in developing countries of which Mekelle City in Northern Ethiopia is not an exception. World Bank borehole-support sub-project was aimed at addressing this challenge. The evaluation of the intervention indicates that there is a significant increase in water supply in the city because of the sub-project. However, the increase in water supply has not been able to meet up with the already established and increasing demand. Coupled with this challenge are: the limited capacity of human capital and expertise that will ensure the proper management of borehole interventions; insufficient cost recovery for proper operation and maintenance of the projects; loss of land and farmlands and lack of compensations because of the projects which affect the livelihood.

Full Text Available Future of the crucial Himalayan water supplies has generally been assessed under the anthropogenic warming, typically consistent amid observations and climate model projections. However, conflicting mid-to-late melt-season cooling within the upper Indus basin (UIB suggests that the future of its melt-dominated hydrological regime and the subsequent wateravailability under changing climate has yet been understood only indistinctly. Here, the future wateravailability from the UIB is presented under both observed and projected—though likely but contrasting—climate change scenarios. Continuation of prevailing climatic changes suggests decreased and delayed glacier melt but increased and early snowmelt, leading to reduction in the overall wateravailability and profound changes in the overall seasonality of the hydrological regime. Hence, initial increases in the wateravailability due to enhanced glacier melt under typically projected warmer climates, and then abrupt decrease upon vanishing of the glaciers, as reported earlier, is only true given the UIB starts following uniformly the global warming signal. Such discordant future wateravailability findings caution the impact assessment communities to consider the relevance of likely (near-future climate change scenarios—consistent to prevalent climatic change patterns—in order to adequately support the water resource planning in Pakistan.

Full Text Available Glaciers all over the world are expected to continue to retreat due to the global warming throughout the 21st century. Consequently, future seasonal wateravailability might become scarce once glacier areas have declined below a certain threshold affecting future water management strategies. Particular attention should be paid to glaciers located in a karstic environment, as parts of the melt water can be drained by souterrain karst systems. In this study tracer experiments, karst modeling and glacier melt modeling are combined in order to identify flow paths in a high alpine, glacierized, karstic environment (Glacier de la Plaine Morte, Switzerland and to investigate current and predict future downstream wateravailability. Flow paths through the karst underground were determined with natural and fluorescent tracers. Subsequently, tracer results and geologic information were assembled in a karst model. Finally, glacier melt projections driven with a climate scenario were performed to discuss future wateravailability in the area surrounding the glacier. The results suggest that during late summer glacier melt water is rapidly drained through well-developed channels at the glacier bottom to the north of the glacier, while during low flow season melt water enters into the karst and is drained to the south. Climate change projections reveal that by the end of the century glacier melt will be significantly reduced in the summer, jeopardizing wateravailability in glacier-fed karst springs.

Oil shale and oil sands resources located within the intermountain west represent a vast, and as of yet, commercially untapped source of energy. Development will require water, and demand for scarce water resources stands at the front of a long list of barriers to commercialization. Water requirements and the consequences of commercial development will depend on the number, size, and location of facilities, as well as the technologies employed to develop these unconventional fuels. While the details remain unclear, the implication is not – unconventional fuel development will increase demand for water in an arid region where demand for water often exceeds supply. Water demands in excess of supplies have long been the norm in the west, and for more than a century water has been apportioned on a first-come, first-served basis. Unconventional fuel developers who have not already secured water rights stand at the back of a long line and will need to obtain water from willing water purveyors. However, uncertainty regarding the nature and extent of some senior water claims combine with indeterminate interstate river management to cast a cloud over water resource allocation and management. Quantitative and qualitative water requirements associated with Endangered Species protection also stand as barriers to significant water development, and complex water quality regulations will apply to unconventional fuel development. Legal and political decisions can give shape to an indeterminate landscape. Settlement of Northern Ute reserved rights claims would help clarify the worth of existing water rights and viability of alternative sources of supply. Interstate apportionment of the White River would go a long way towards resolving wateravailability in downstream Utah. And energy policy clarification will help determine the role oil shale and oil sands will play in our nation’s future.

Oil shale and oil sands resources located within the intermountain west represent a vast, and as of yet, commercially untapped source of energy. Development will require water, and demand for scarce water resources stands at the front of a long list of barriers to commercialization. Water requirements and the consequences of commercial development will depend on the number, size, and location of facilities, as well as the technologies employed to develop these unconventional fuels. While the details remain unclear, the implication is not – unconventional fuel development will increase demand for water in an arid region where demand for water often exceeds supply. Water demands in excess of supplies have long been the norm in the west, and for more than a century water has been apportioned on a first-come, first-served basis. Unconventional fuel developers who have not already secured water rights stand at the back of a long line and will need to obtain water from willing water purveyors. However, uncertainty regarding the nature and extent of some senior water claims combine with indeterminate interstate river management to cast a cloud over water resource allocation and management. Quantitative and qualitative water requirements associated with Endangered Species protection also stand as barriers to significant water development, and complex water quality regulations will apply to unconventional fuel development. Legal and political decisions can give shape to an indeterminate landscape. Settlement of Northern Ute reserved rights claims would help clarify the worth of existing water rights and viability of alternative sources of supply. Interstate apportionment of the White River would go a long way towards resolving wateravailability in downstream Utah. And energy policy clarification will help determine the role oil shale and oil sands will play in our nation’s future.

Experimental and theoretical research on water wettability, adsorption, and condensation on solid surfaces has been ongoing for many decades because of the availability of new materials, new detection and measurement techniques, novel applications, and different scales of dimensions. Au is a metal of special interest because it is chemically inert, has a high surface energy, is highly conductive, and has a relatively high melting point. It has wide applications in semiconductor integrated circuitry, microelectromechanical systems, microfluidics, biochips, jewelry, coinage, and even dental restoration. Therefore, its surface condition, wettability, wear resistance, lubrication, and friction attract a lot of attention from both scientists and engineers. In this paper, the authors experimentally investigated Au{sub 2}O{sub 3} growth, wettability, roughness, and adsorption utilizing atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, reflectance spectrometry, and contact angle measurement. Samples were made using a GaAs substrate. Utilizing a super-hydrophilic Au surface and the proper surface conditions of the surrounding GaAs, dynamic microadsorption of water on the Au surface was observed in a clean room environment. The Au surface area can be as small as 12 μm{sup 2}. The adsorbed water was collected by the GaAs groove structure and then redistributed around the structure. A model was developed to qualitatively describe the dynamic microadsorption process. The effective adsorption rate was estimated by modeling and experimental data. Devices for moisture collection and a liquid channel can be made by properly arranging the wettabilities or contact angles of different materials. These novel devices will be very useful in microfluid applications or biochips.

Mexico’s government enacted an energy reform in 2013 that aims to foster competitiveness and private investment throughout the energy sector value chain. As part of this reform, it is expected that extraction of oil and gas via hydraulic fracturing will increase in five shale basins (e.g. Burgos, Sabinas, Tampico, Tuxpan, and Veracruz). Because hydraulic fracturing is a water-intensive activity, it is relevant to assess the potential wateravailability for this activity in Mexico. This research aims to quantify the wateravailability for hydraulic fracturing in Mexico and identify its spatial distribution along the five shale basins. The methodology consisted of a multilayer geospatial analysis that overlays the wateravailability in the watersheds and aquifers with the different types of shale resources areas (e.g. oil and associated gas, wet gas and condensate, and dry gas) in the five shale basins. The aquifers and watersheds in Mexico are classified in four zones depending on average annual wateravailability. Three scenarios were examined based on different impact level on watersheds and aquifers from hydraulic fracturing. For the most conservative scenario analyzed, the results showed that the wateravailable could be used to extract between 8.15 and 70.42 Quadrillion British thermal units (Quads) of energy in the typical 20–30 year lifetime of the hydraulic fracturing wells that could be supplied with the annual wateravailability overlaying the shale areas, with an average across estimates of around 18.05 Quads. However, geographic variation in wateravailability could represent a challenge for extracting the shale reserves. Most of the wateravailable is located closer to the Gulf of Mexico, but the areas with the larger recoverable shale reserves coincide with less wateravailability in Northern Mexico. New water management techniques (such as recycling and re-use), more efficient fracturing methods, shifts in usage patterns, or other water sources

According to linear acoustics, airborne sound incident on a watersurface transmits only a tenth of a percent of its energy. This difficulty of transmitting energy across the watersurface limits the feasibility of standoff ultrasound imaging. We propose to overcome this long standing problem by developing new methods of coupling into the medium at standoff. In particular, we believe that the acoustic nonlinearity of both the air and the medium may yield a range of effects in the vicinity of the surface permitting an efficient transmission of ultrasound from the air into the medium. The recent commercial availability of parametric speakers that deliver modulated 100kHz ultrasound at 135dB to nonlinearly generate music at 95dB provides an interesting platform with which to revisit the transmission of sound across acoustic impedance mismatches. We show results of experimental studies of the behavior of the air-water free surface when subjected to large amplitude acoustic pressures from the air. This work was supported by the ARO STIR program.

Walnut (Juglans regia L.) is a tree species of high economic importance in the Central Valley of California. This crop has particularly high water requirements, which makes it highly dependent on irrigation. The context of decreasing wateravailability in the state calls for efficient water management practices, which requires improving our understanding of the relationship between water application and walnut wateravailability. In addition to the soil's hydraulic conductivity, two plant properties are thought to control the supply of water from the bulk soil to the canopy: (i) root distribution and (ii) plant hydraulic conductance. Even though these properties are clearly linked to crop water requirements, their quantitative relation remains unclear. The aim of this study is to quantitatively explain walnut water requirements under water deficit from continuous measurements of its water consumption, soil and stem water potential, root growth and root system hydraulic conductance. For that purpose, a greenhouse experiment was conducted for a two month period. Young walnut trees were planted in transparent cylindrical pots, equipped with: (i) rhizotron tubes, which allowed for non-invasive monitoring of root growth, (ii) pressure transducer tensiometers for soil water potential, (iii) psychrometers attached to non-transpiring leaves for stem water potential, and (iv) weighing scales for plant transpiration. Treatments consisted of different irrigation rates: 100%, 75% and 50% of potential crop evapotranspiration. Plant responses were compared to predictions from three simple process-based soil-plant-atmosphere models of water flow: (i) a hydraulic model of stomatal regulation based on stem water potential and vapor pressure deficit, (ii) a model of plant hydraulics predicting stem water potential from soil-root interfaces water potential, and (iii) a model of soil water depletion predicting the water potential drop between the bulk soil and soil-root interfaces

... of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Management of Energy and Water Efficiency in Federal... water management. This draft guidance is available at: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/femp/pdfs/draft_EISA.... Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Federal Energy...

... Energy Regulatory Commission South Feather Water and Power Agency; Notice of Availability of...), Commission staff has prepared an environmental assessment (EA) regarding South Feather Water and Power Agency... Creek development of the South Feather Power Project (FERC No. 2088). Sly Creek is located on Sly...

Periodic micro-grooved organogel surfaces can easily realize the anisotropic sliding of water droplets attributing to the formed slippery water/oil/solid interface. Different from the existing anisotropic surfaces, this novel surface provides a versatile candidate for the anisotropic sliding of water droplets and might present a promising way for the easy manipulation of liquid droplets for water collection, liquid-directional transportation, and microfluidics.

Goat production is an important agricultural activity in Jordan. The country is one of the poorest countries in the world in terms of water scarcity. Provision of sufficient quantity of good quality drinking water is important for goats to maintain feed intake and production. This study aimed to evaluate the seasonal availability and quality of goats' drinking water sources, accessibility, and utilization in different zones in the Karak Governorate in southern Jordan. Data collection methods comprised interviews with purposively selected farmers and quality assessment of water sources. The provision of drinking water was considered as one of the major constraints for goat production, particularly during the dry season (DS). Long travel distances to the water sources, waiting time at watering points, and high fuel and labor costs were the key reasons associated with the problem. All the values of water quality (WQ) parameters were within acceptable limits of the guidelines for livestock drinking WQ with exception of iron, which showed slightly elevated concentration in one borehole source in the DS. These findings show that water shortage is an important problem leading to consequences for goat keepers. To alleviate the water shortage constraint and in view of the depleted groundwater sources, alternative water sources at reasonable distance have to be tapped and monitored for water quality and more efficient use of rainwater harvesting systems in the study area is recommended.

Full Text Available In accordance with the guidelines of the Water Framework Directive 2000/60 (WFD, both ecological and chemical statuses determine the assessment of surfacewaters. The profile of ecological status is based on the analysis of various biological components, and physicochemical and hydromorphological indicators complement this assessment. The aim of this article is to present the biological methods used in the assessment of water status with a special focus on bioassay, as well as to provide a review of methods of monitoring water status. Biological test methods include both biomonitoring and bioanalytics. Water biomonitoring is used to assess and forecast the status of water. These studies aim to collect data on water pollution and forecast its impact. Biomonitoring uses organisms which are characterized by particular vulnerability to contaminants. Bioindicator organisms are algae, fungi, bacteria, larval invertebrates, cyanobacteria, macroinvertebrates, and fish. Bioanalytics is based on the receptors of contaminants that can be biologically active substances. In bioanalytics, biosensors such as viruses, bacteria, antibodies, enzymes, and biotests are used to assess degrees of pollution.

During dry periods in the Mediterranean area, the lack of water entering the soil matrix reduces organic contributions to the soil. These processes lead to reduced soil fertility and soil vegetation recovery which creates a positive feedback process that can lead to desertification. Restoration of native vegetation is the most effective way to regenerate soil health, and control runoff and sediment yield. In Mediterranean areas, after a forestry proposal, it is highly common to register a significant number of losses for the saplings that have been introduced due to the lack of rainfall. When no vegetation is established, organic amendments can be used to rapidly protect the soil surface against the erosive forces of rain and runoff. In this study we investigated the hydrological effects of five soil treatments in relation to the temporal variability of the availablewater for plants. Five amendments were applied in an experimental set of plots: straw mulching; mulch with chipped branches of Aleppo Pine (Pinus halepensis L.); TerraCotten hydroabsobent polymers; sewage sludge; sheep manure and control. Plots were afforested following the same spatial pattern, and amendments were mixed with the soil at the rate 10 Mg ha-1. In control plots, during June, July, August and September, soils were registered below the wilting point, and therefore, in the area of water unusable by plants. These months were coinciding with the summer mediterranean drought. This fact justifies the high mortality found on plants after the seeding plan. Similarly, soils have never exceeded the field capacity value measured for control plots. Conversely, in the straw and pinus mulch, soils were above the wilting point during a longer time than in control plots. Thus, the soil moisture only has stayed below the 4.2 pF suction in July, July and August. Regarding the amount of wateravailable was also higher, especially in the months of December, January and February. However, the field capacity

Full Text AvailableWateravailability is a major limitation for agricultural productivity. Plants growing in severe arid climates such as deserts provide tools for studying plant growth and performance under extreme drought conditions. The perennial species Calotropis procera used in this study is a shrub growing in many arid areas which has an exceptional ability to adapt and be productive in severe arid conditions. We describe the results of studying the metabolomic response of wild C procera plants growing in the desert to a one time water supply. Leaves of C. procera plants were taken at three time points before and 1 hour, 6 hours and 12 hours after watering and subjected to a metabolomics and lipidomics analysis. Analysis of the data reveals that within one hour after watering C. procera has already responded on the metabolic level to the sudden wateravailability as evidenced by major changes such as increased levels of most amino acids, a decrease in sucrose, raffinose and maltitol, a decrease in storage lipids (triacylglycerols and an increase in membrane lipids including photosynthetic membranes. These changes still prevail at the 6 hour time point after watering however 12 hours after watering the metabolomics data are essentially indistinguishable from the prewatering state thus demonstrating not only a rapid response to wateravailability but also a rapid response to loss of water. Taken together these data suggest that the ability of C. procera to survive under the very harsh drought conditions prevailing in the desert might be associated with its rapid adjustments to wateravailability and losses.

It is well known that the composition of petroleum or some of its processing products changes in the environment mostly under the influence of microorganisms. A series of experiments was conducted in order to define the optimum conditions for an efficient biodegradation of petroleum pollutant, or bioremediation of different segments of the environment. The aim of these investigations was to show to what extent the hydrocarbons of a petroleum pollutant are degraded by microbial cultures which were isolated as dominant microorganisms from a surfacewater of a wastewater canal of an oil refinery and a nitrogen plant. Biodegradation experiments were conducted on one paraffinic, and one naphthenic type of petroleum during a three month period under aerobic conditions, varying the following parameters: Inorganic (Kp) or an organic medium (Bh) with or without exposition to light. Microorganisms were analyzed in a surfacewater sample from a canal (Pancevo, Serbia), into which wastewater from an oil refinery and a nitrogen plant is released. The consortia of microorganisms were isolated from the water sample (most abundant species: Phormidium foveolarum--filamentous Cyanobacteria, blue-green algae and Achanthes minutissima, diatoms, algae). The simulation experiments of biodegradation were conducted with the biomass suspension and crude oils Sirakovo (Sir, paraffinic type) and Velebit (Ve, naphthenic type). After a three month period, organic substance was extracted by means of chloroform. In the extracts, the content of saturated hydrocarbons, aromatic hydrocarbons, alcohols and fatty acids was determined (the group composition). n-Alkanes and isoprenoid aliphatic alkanes, pristane and phytane, in the aliphatic fractions, were analyzed using gas chromatography (GC). Total isoprenoid aliphatic alkanes and polycyclic alkanes of sterane and triterpane types were analyzed by GC-MS. Paraffinic type petroleums have a significant loss of saturated hydrocarbons. For naphthenic

Full Text Available Imidacloprid is one of the most widely used insecticides in the world. Its concentration in surfacewater exceeds the water quality norms in many parts of the Netherlands. Several studies have demonstrated harmful effects of this neonicotinoid to a wide range of non-target species. Therefore we expected that surfacewater pollution with imidacloprid would negatively impact aquatic ecosystems. Availability of extensive monitoring data on the abundance of aquatic macro-invertebrate species, and on imidacloprid concentrations in surfacewater in the Netherlands enabled us to test this hypothesis. Our regression analysis showed a significant negative relationship (P<0.001 between macro-invertebrate abundance and imidacloprid concentration for all species pooled. A significant negative relationship was also found for the orders Amphipoda, Basommatophora, Diptera, Ephemeroptera and Isopoda, and for several species separately. The order Odonata had a negative relationship very close to the significance threshold of 0.05 (P = 0.051. However, in accordance with previous research, a positive relationship was found for the order Actinedida. We used the monitoring field data to test whether the existing three water quality norms for imidacloprid in the Netherlands are protective in real conditions. Our data show that macrofauna abundance drops sharply between 13 and 67 ng l(-1. For aquatic ecosystem protection, two of the norms are not protective at all while the strictest norm of 13 ng l(-1 (MTR seems somewhat protective. In addition to the existing experimental evidence on the negative effects of imidacloprid on invertebrate life, our study, based on data from large-scale field monitoring during multiple years, shows that serious concern about the far-reaching consequences of the abundant use of imidacloprid for aquatic ecosystems is justified.

Currently, more than two-thirds of the population in Africa must leave their home to fetch water for drinking and domestic use. The time burden of water fetching has been suggested to influence the volume of water collected by households as well as time spent on income generating activities and child care. However, little is known about the potential health benefits of reducing water fetching distances. Data from almost 200, 000 Demographic and Health Surveys carried out in 26 countries were used to assess the relationship between household walk time to water source and child health outcomes. To estimate the causal effect of decreased water fetching time on health, geographic variation in freshwater availability was employed as an instrumental variable for one-way walk time to water source in a two-stage regression model. Time spent walking to a household's main water source was found to be a significant determinant of under-five child health. A 15-min decrease in one-way walk time to water source is associated with a 41% average relative reduction in diarrhea prevalence, improved anthropometric indicators of child nutritional status, and a 11% relative reduction in under-five child mortality. These results suggest that reducing the time cost of fetching water should be a priority for water infrastructure investments in Africa.

Species interactions play key roles in linking the responses of populations, communities, and ecosystems to environmental change. For instance, species interactions are an important determinant of the complexity of changes in trophic biomass with variation in resources. Water resources are a major driver of terrestrial ecology and climate change is expected to greatly alter the distribution of this critical resource. While previous studies have documented strong effects of global environmental change on species interactions in general, responses can vary from region to region. Dryland ecosystems occupy more than one-third of the Earth's land mass, are greatly affected by changes in wateravailability, and are predicted to be hotspots of climate change. Thus, it is imperative to understand the effects of environmental change on these globally significant ecosystems. Here, we review studies of the responses of population-level plant-plant, plant-herbivore, and predator-prey interactions to changes in wateravailability in dryland environments in order to develop new hypotheses and predictions to guide future research. To help explain patterns of interaction outcomes, we developed a conceptual model that views interaction outcomes as shifting between (1) competition and facilitation (plant-plant), (2) herbivory, neutralism, or mutualism (plant-herbivore), or (3) neutralism and predation (predator-prey), as wateravailability crosses physiological, behavioural, or population-density thresholds. We link our conceptual model to hypothetical scenarios of current and future wateravailability to make testable predictions about the influence of changes in wateravailability on species interactions. We also examine potential implications of our conceptual model for the relative importance of top-down effects and the linearity of patterns of change in trophic biomass with changes in wateravailability. Finally, we highlight key research needs and some possible broader impacts

Full Text Available Many countries require the presence of free chlorine at about 0.1 mg/l in their drinking water supplies. For various reasons, such as cast-iron pipes or long residence times in the distribution system, free chlorine may decrease below detection limits. In such cases it is important to know whether or not the water was chlorinated or if nonchlorinated water entered the system by accident. Changes in UV spectra of natural organic matter in lakewater were used to assess qualitatively the degree of chlorination in the treatment to produce drinking water. The changes were more obvious in the first derivative spectra. In lakewater, the derivative spectra have a maximum at about 280 nm. This maximum shifts to longer wavelengths by up to 10 nm, decreases, and eventually disappears with an increasing dose of chlorine. The water treatment system was monitored by this technique for over 1 year and changes in the UV spectra of water samples were compared with experimental samples treated with known amounts of chlorine. The changes of the UV spectra with the concentration of added chlorine are presented. On several occasions, water, which received very little or no chlorination, may have entered the drinking water system. The results show that first derivative spectra are potentially a tool to determine, in the absence of residual chlorine, whether or not surfacewater was chlorinated during the treatment to produce potable water.

The human water demand for agriculture, industry, energy and domestic is less than ten per cent of the global freshwater production of around 54,000 km3 per year. Water is distributed unequally in time and space. Not a new insight, but when we zoom in and look at country and regional level and monthly time scale the global picture is dispatching into areas and periods of water abundance and water scarcity, which we can quantify. This study uses the multi-model approach of the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP) to build up a consistent set of global water scenarios based on Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) and Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) for the IIASA Water Futures and Solutions Initiative (WFaS). The WFaS "fast-track" assessment applies three water scenarios based on feasible combinations of two different RCPs and three SSPs, then five different hydrological models are used to estimate wateravailability and three water use models to estimate water demand from different sectors. Results are shown as indicators for e.g. water stress and water dependency between countries for present time and for future projections up to 2050. The alterations to previous studies are the multi-model approach and the finer temporal monthly scale, showing the temporal and spatial diversity of water demand and availability. One example scenario is based on the combination of SSP2 and RCP6.0. While in 2010 17 countries out of 249 facing severe water stress on an annual basis, the number is likely to increase up to 26 countries by 2050. Looking at the monthly time dimension 51 countries with altogether 3.8 billion people are under severe water stress in at least one month in 2010. This will rise up to 57 countries and 4.9 billion people by 2050. Main driver of this development will be the rising water demand of a growing population and to a lesser extend the changing distribution of wateravailability. Model biases are inevitable in

Surface neutron-gamma gauges are handy instruments to measure soil water contents and bulk densities of surface layers. Although available for some decades, their optimal use is still not well established. This study is a contribution to improve their use, mainly in relation to calibration, and of the effect of soil dry bulk density on soil water content measurements.

Atmospheric water is emerging as an important potable water source. The present work experimentally and theoretically investigates water condensation and collection on flat surfaces with contrasting contact angles and contact angle hysteresis (CAH) to elucidate their roles on water mass collection efficiency. The experimental results indicate that a hydrophilic surface promotes nucleation and individual droplets growth, and a surface with a low CAH tends to let a smaller droplet to slide down, but the overall water mass collection efficiency is independent of both surface contact angle and CAH. The experimental results agree well with our theoretical calculations. During water condensation, a balance has to be struck between single droplet growth and droplet density on a surface so as to maintain a constant water droplet surface coverage ratio, which renders the role of both surface wettability and hysteresis insignificant to the ultimate water mass collection. Moreover, water droplets on the edges of a surface grow much faster than those on the non-edge areas and thus dominate the contribution to the water mass collection by the entire surface, directly pointing out the very important role of edge effect on water condensation and collection.

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • We developed a new force field to describe the Fe–H{sub 2}O interaction. • We developed a new force field to describe the flexible water model at low temperature. • We analyze the orientation of water along the iron surface. • We calculate the vibrational spectra of water near the iron surface. • We found a complex relationship between water orientation and the atomic vibrational spectra at different sites of adsorption along the iron surface. - Abstract: The adsorption of H{sub 2}O molecules on metal surfaces is important to understand the early process of water corrosion. This process can be described by computational simulation using molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo. However, this simulation demands an efficient description of the surface interactions between the water molecule and the metallic surface. In this study, an effective force field to describe the iron-watersurface interactions was developed and it was used in a molecular dynamics simulation. The results showed a very good agreement between the simulated vibrational-DOS spectrum and the experimental vibrational spectrum of the iron–water interface. The water density profile revealed the presence of a water double layer in the metal interface. Furthermore, the horizontal mapping combined with the angular distribution of the molecular plane allowed the analysis of the water structure above the surface, which in turn agrees with the model of the double layer on metal surfaces.

Full Text Available Studies on water retention and availability are scarce for subtropical or humid temperate climate regions of the southern hemisphere. The aims of this study were to evaluate the relations of the soil physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties with water retention and availability for the generation and validation of continuous point pedotransfer functions (PTFs for soils of the State of Santa Catarina (SC in the South of Brazil. Horizons of 44 profiles were sampled in areas under different cover crops and regions of SC, to determine: field capacity (FC, 10 kPa, permanent wilting point (PWP, 1,500 kPa, availablewater content (AW, by difference, saturated hydraulic conductivity, bulk density, aggregate stability, particle size distribution (seven classes, organic matter content, and particle density. Chemical and mineralogical properties were obtained from the literature. Spearman's rank correlation analysis and path analysis were used in the statistical analyses. The point PTFs for estimation of FC, PWP and AW were generated for the soil surface and subsurface through multiple regression analysis, followed by robust regression analysis, using two sets of predictive variables. Soils with finer texture and/or greater organic matter content retain more moisture, and organic matter is the property that mainly controls the wateravailability to plants in soil surface horizons. Path analysis was useful in understanding the relationships between soil properties for FC, PWP and AW. The predictive power of the generated PTFs to estimate FC and PWP was good for all horizons, while AW was best estimated by more complex models with better prediction for the surface horizons of soils in Santa Catarina.

Contamination of surface and ground waters is an environmental concern. Pollution from both point and nonpoint sources can render water unsuitable for use. Surfacewaters of concern include streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, canals, and wastewater lagoons. Lagooned wastewater from confined animal feedi...

soil surface is likely to become a major issue for land managers. In addition, the spatial decoupling between the people engaged in the upstream activities that lower wateravailability/quality and the downstream users facing water shortages will likely result in new combinations of interest groups and the need for novel ways to address their differences. The science of ecohydrology has an important role to play in these conversations.

The last decade of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century showed that climate change or global warming is happening and the latter one is considered as the warmest decade over Pakistan ever in history where temperature reached 53 0C on May 26, 2010. The changing climate has impact on various areas including agriculture, water, health, among others. There are two main forces which have central role in changing climate: one is natural variability and the other one is human evoked changes, increasing the density of green house gases. The elements in the bunch of Energy-Food-Water are interlinked with one another and among them water plays a crucial role for the existence of the other two parts. This nexus is the central environmental issue around the globe generally, and is of particular importance in the developing countries. The study evaluated the importance and the availability of water in Indus River under different emission scenarios. Four emission scenarios are included, that is, the A2, B2, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. One way coupling of regional climate models (RCMs) and Hydrological model have been implemented in this study. The PRECIS (Providing Regional Climate for Impact Studies) and CCAM (Conformal-Cubic Atmospheric Model) climate models and UBCWM (University of British Columbia Watershed Model) hydrological model are used for this purpose. It is observed that Indus River contributes 80 % of the hydro-power generation and contributes 44 % to availablewater annually in Pakistan. It is further investigated whether sufficient water will be available in the Indus River under climate change scenarios. Toward this goal, Tarbela Reservoir is used as a measurement tool using the parameters of the reservoir like maximum operating storage, dead level storage, discharge capacity of tunnels and spillways. The results of this study are extremely important for the economy of Pakistan in various key areas like agriculture, energy, industries and ecosystem

Full Text Available In semi-arid environments, 'permanent' rivers are essential sources of surfacewater for wildlife during 'dry' seasons when rainfall is limited or absent, particularly for species whose resilience to water scarcity is low. The hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius requires submersion in water to aid thermoregulation and prevent skin damage by solar radiation; the largest threat to its viability are human alterations of aquatic habitats. In the Ruaha National Park (NP, Tanzania, the Great Ruaha River (GRR is the main source of surfacewater for wildlife during the dry season. Recent, large-scale water extraction from the GRR by people upstream of Ruaha NP is thought to be responsible for a profound decrease in dry season water-flow and the absence of surfacewater along large sections of the river inside the NP. We investigated the impact of decreased water flow on daytime hippo distribution using regular censuses at monitoring locations, transects and camera trap records along a 104km section of the GRR within the Ruaha NP during two dry seasons. The minimum number of hippos per monitoring location increased with the expanse of surfacewater as the dry seasons progressed, and was not affected by water quality. Hippo distribution significantly changed throughout the dry season, leading to the accumulation of large numbers in very few locations. If surfacewater loss from the GRR continues to increase in future years, this will have serious implications for the hippo population and other water dependent species in Ruaha NP.

Management of water resources has increasingly become aware of the importance of considering groundwater and surfacewater as an interconnected, single resource. Surfacewater is commonly hydraulically connected to groundwater, but the interactions are difficult to observe and measure. Such a conjunctive approach has often been left out of water-management considerations because of a lack of understanding of the processes occurring. The goal of this research is to increase the better understanding of the interaction between the surfacewater and groundwater using the study case of the Treasure Valley Aquifer and the Boise River in Idaho, framed on water sustainability. Water-budgets for the Treasure Valley for the calendar years 1996 and 2000 suggest that the Boise River lost to the shallow aquifer almost 20 Hm3 and 95 Hm3, respectively, along the Lucky Peak to Capitol Bridge reach. Groundwater discharge occurred into the Boise River, along the Capitol Bridge to Parma reach, at about 645 Hm3 and 653 Hm3for the calendar years 1996 and 2000, respectively (USBR). These figures highlight the importance of better understanding of the water flow because of disparity, which would impact groundwater management practices. There is a need of better understanding of the groundwater-surfacewater interface for predicting responses to natural and human-induced stresses. A groundwater flow model was developed to compute the rates and directions of groundwater movement through aquifer and confining units in the subsurface. The model also provides a representation of the interaction that occurs between the Boise River and the shallow aquifer in the Treasure Valley. Work in progress on the general flow pattern allows assessing of the connectivity between shallow aquifer and river for helping understanding the impacts of groundwater extraction. Quantifying the interaction between the two freshwater sources would be beneficial in proper water management decisions in order to optimize

Future global food demand will require more land and water. We group the global population into six Gross Domestic Product groups and study changes in the availability of land and water for food in relation to demographic and nutrition transition theories. We show large differences in land and water

Future global food demand will require more land and water. We group the global population into six Gross Domestic Product groups and study changes in the availability of land and water for food in relation to demographic and nutrition transition theories. We show large differences in land and water

Full Text Available A global water scarcity assessment for the 21st century was conducted under the latest socio-economic scenario for global change studies, namely Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSPs. SSPs depict five global situations with substantially different socio-economic conditions. In the accompanying paper, a water use scenario compatible with the SSPs was developed. This scenario considers not only quantitative socio-economic factors such as population and electricity production but also qualitative ones such as the degree of technological change and overall environmental consciousness. In this paper, wateravailability and water scarcity were assessed using a global hydrological model called H08. H08 simulates both the natural water cycle and major human activities such as water withdrawal and reservoir operation. It simulates wateravailability and use at daily time intervals at a spatial resolution of 0.5° × 0.5°. A series of global hydrological simulations were conducted under the SSPs, taking into account different climate policy options and the results of climate models. Water scarcity was assessed using an index termed the Cumulative Withdrawal to Demand ratio, which is expressed as the accumulation of daily water withdrawal from a river over the potential daily water consumption demand. This index can be used to express whether renewable water resources are available from rivers when required. The results suggested that by 2071–2100 the population living under severely water stressed conditions for SSP1-5 will reach 2588–2793 × 106 (39–42% of total population, 3966–4298 × 106 (46–50%, 5334–5643 × 106 (52–55%, 3427–3786 × 106 (40–45%, 3164–3379 × 106 (46–49%, respectively, if climate policies are not adopted. Even in SSP1 (the scenario with least change in water use and climate global water scarcity increases considerably, as compared to the present day. This is mainly due to the growth in population and economic

Molecular self association in liquids is a physical process that can dominate cohesion (interfacial tension) and miscibility. In water, self association is a powerful organizational force leading to a three-dimensional hydrogen-bonded network (water structure). Localized perturbations in the chemical potential of water as by, for example, contact with a solid surface, induces compensating changes in water structure that can be sensed tens of nanometers from the point of origin using the surface force apparatus (SFA) and ancillary techniques. These instruments reveal attractive or repulsive forces between opposing surfaces immersed in water, over and above that anticipated by continuum theory (DLVO), that are attributed to a variable density (partial molar volume) of a more-or-less ordered water structure, depending on the water wettability (surface energy) of the water-contacting surfaces. Water structure at surfaces is thus found to be a manifestation of hydrophobicity and, while mechanistic/theoretical interpretation of experimental results remain the subject of some debate in the literature, convergence of experimental observations permit, for the first time, quantitative definition of the relative terms 'hydrophobic' and 'hydrophilic'. In particular, long-range attractive forces are detected only between surfaces exhibiting a water contact angle theta > 65 degrees (herein defined as hydrophobic surfaces with pure water adhesion tension tau O = gamma O cos theta 30 dyn/cm). These findings suggest at least two distinct kinds of water structure and reactivity: a relatively less-dense water region against hydrophobic surfaces with an open hydrogen-bonded network and a relatively more-dense water region against hydrophilic surfaces with a collapsed hydrogen-bonded network. Importantly, membrane and SFA studies reveal a discrimination between biologically-important ions that preferentially solubilizes divalent ions in more-dense water regions relative to less

The global distribution of the radioactive isotope iodine-129 in surfacewaters (lakes and rivers) is presented here and compared with the atmospheric deposition and distribution in surface marine waters. The results indicate relatively high concentrations in surfacewater systems in close vicinity of the anthropogenic release sources as well as in parts of Western Europe, North America and Central Asia. {sup 129}I level is generally higher in the terrestrial surfacewater of the Northern hemisphere compared to the southern hemisphere. The highest values of {sup 129}I appear around 50°N and 40°S in the northern and southern hemisphere, separately. Direct gaseous and marine atmospheric emissions are the most likely avenues for the transport of {sup 129}I from the sources to the terrestrial surfacewaters. To apply iodine-129 as process tracer in terrestrial surfacewater environment, more data are needed on {sup 129}I distribution patterns both locally and globally.

The water content distribution in the surface layer of Maoping slope has been studied by testing the water content at 31 control sites. The water content profiles at these sites have also been determined. The water content distributions at different segments have been obtained by using the Kriging method of geostatistics. By comparing the water content distributions with the landform of the slope, it was shown that the water content is closely dependent on the landform of the slope. The water content distribution in the surface layer provided a fundamental basis for landslide predication and treatment.

This study presents a quantitative national assessment of urban wateravailability and vulnerability for 225 U.S. cities with population greater than 100,000. Here, the urban assessments account for not only renewable water flows, but also the extracted, imported, and stored water that urban systems access through constructed infrastructure. These sources represent important hydraulic components of the urban water supply, yet are typically excluded from water scarcity assessments. Results from this hydraulic-based assessment were compared to those obtained using a more conventional method that estimates scarcity solely based on local renewable flows. The inclusion of hydraulic components increased the mean availability to cities, leading to a significantly lower portion of the total U.S. population considered "at risk" for water scarcity (17%) than that obtained from the runoff method (47%). Water vulnerability was determined based on low-flow conditions, and smaller differences were found for this metric between at-risk populations using the runoff (66%) and hydraulic-based (54%) methods. The large increase in the susceptible population between the scarcity measures evaluated using the hydraulic method may better reconcile the seeming contradiction in the United States between perceptions of natural water abundance and widespread water scarcity. Additionally, urban vulnerability measures developed here were validated using a media text analysis. Vulnerability assessments that included hydraulic components were found to correlate with the frequency of urban water scarcity reports in the popular press while runoff-based measures showed no significant correlation, suggesting that hydraulic-based assessments provide better context for understanding the nature and severity of urban water scarcity issues.

The hydrological impact of climate change can be dramatic. The primary objective of this paper was to analyze plant availablewater in the context of climate change using Thornthwaite type monthly water balance calibrated by remote sensing based ET maps. The calibrated model was used for projection on the basis of 4 climate model datasets. The 3 periods of projection were: 2010-2040, 2040-2070, and 2070-2100. The benefit of this method is its robust build up, which can be applied if temperature and precipitation time series are accessible. The key parameter is the water storage capacity of the soil (SOILMAX), which can be calibrated using the actual available evapotranspiration data. If the soil's physical properties are available, the maximal rooting depth is also projectable. Plant availablewater was evaluated for future scenarios focusing water stress periods. For testing the model, a dataset of an agricultural parcel next to Mosonmagyaróvár and a dataset of a small forest covered catchment next to Sopron were successfully used. Each of the models projected slightly ascending evapotranspiration values (+7 percent), but strongly decreasing soil moisture values (-15 percent) for the 21st century. The soil moisture minimum values (generally appeared at the end of the summer) reduced more than 50 percent which indicate almost critical water stress for vegetation. This research has been supported by Agroclimate.2 VKSZ_12-1-2013-0034 project.

As a next step to European drought monitoring and forecasting, which is covered in the European Drought Observatory (EDO) activity of JRC, a modeling environment has been developed to assess optimum measures to match wateravailability and water demand, while keeping ecological, water quality and flood risk aspects also into account. A multi-modelling environment has been developed to assess combinations of water retention measures, water savings measures, and nutrient reduction measures for continental Europe. These simulations have been carried out to assess the effects of those measures on several hydro-chemical indicators, such as the Water Exploitation Index, Environmental Flow indicators, low-flow frequency, N and P concentrations in rivers, the 50-year return period river discharge as an indicator for flooding, and economic losses due to water scarcity for the agricultural sector, the industrial sector, and the public sector. Also, potential flood damage of a 100-year return period flood has been used as an indicator. This modeling environment consists of linking the agricultural CAPRI model, the land use LUMP model, the water quantity LISFLOOD model, the water quality EPIC model, the combined water quantity/quality and hydro-economic LISQUAL model and a multi-criteria optimization routine. A python interface platform (IMO) has been built to link the different models. The work was carried out in the framework of a new European Commission policy document "Blueprint to Safeguard Europe's Water Resources", COM(2012)673), launched in November 2012. Simulations have been carried out to assess the effects of water retention measures, water savings measures, and nutrient reduction measures on several hydro-chemical indicators, such as the Water Exploitation Index, Environmental Flow indicators, N and P concentrations in rivers, the 50-year return period river discharge as an indicator for flooding, and economic losses due to water scarcity for the agricultural

Some pesticide transformation products have been observed to occur in higher concentrations and more frequently than the parent active pesticide in surfacewater and groundwater. These products are often more mobile and sometimes more stable than the parent pesticide. If they also represent the major product into which the parent substance is transformed, these transformation products may dominate observed pesticide occurrences in surfacewater and groundwater. Their potential contribution to the overall risk to the aquatic environment caused by the use of the parent pesticide should therefore not be neglected in chemical risk and water quality assessments. The same is true for transformation products of other compound classes that might reach the soil environment, such as veterinary pharmaceuticals. However, the fate and input pathways of transformation products of soil-applied chemicals into surfacewater are not yet well understood, which largely prevents their appropriate inclusion into chemical risk and water quality assessments. Here, we studied whether prioritization methods based on available environmental fate data from pesticide registration dossiers in combination with basic fate models could help identify transformation products which can be found in relevant concentrations in surface and groundwater and which should therefore be included into monitoring programs. A three-box steady state model containing air, soil, and surfacewater compartments was used to predict relative inputs of pesticide transformation products into surfacewaters based on their physico-chemical and environmental fate properties. The model predictions were compared to monitoring data from a small Swiss river located in an intensely agricultural catchment (90 km2) which was flow-proportionally sampled from May to October 2008 and screened for 74 pesticides as well as 50 corresponding transformation products. Sampling mainly occurred during high discharge, but additional samples

Full Text Available This study investigates the effects of projected climate change on snow wateravailability in the Euphrates-Tigris basin using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC macro scale hydrologic model and a set of regional climate-change outputs from 13 global circulation models (GCMs forced with two greenhouse gas emission scenarios for two time periods in the 21st century (2050 and 2090. The hydrologic model produces a reasonable simulation of seasonal and spatial variation in snow cover and associated snow water equivalent (SWE in the mountainous areas of the basin, although its performance is poorer at marginal snow cover sites. While there is great variation across GCM outputs influencing snow wateravailability, the majority of models and scenarios suggest a significant decline (between 10 and 60 percent in available snow water, particularly under the high-impact A2 climate change scenario and later in the 21st century. The changes in SWE are more stable when multi-model ensemble GCM outputs are used to minimize inter-model variability, suggesting a consistent and significant decrease in snow-covered areas and associated wateravailability in the headwaters of the Euphrates-Tigris basin. Detailed analysis of future climatic conditions point to the combined effects of reduced precipitation and increased temperatures as primary drivers of reduced snowpack. Results also indicate a more rapid decline in snow cover in the lower elevation zones than the higher areas in a changing climate but these findings also contain a larger uncertainty. The simulated changes in snow wateravailability have important implications for the future of water resources and associated hydropower generation and land-use management and planning in a region already ripe for interstate water conflict. While the changes in the frequency and intensity of snow-bearing circulation systems or the interannual variability related to climate were not considered, the simulated

Surfacewater releases can include the threat to targets from overland flow of hazardous substances and from flooding or the threat from the release of hazardous substances to ground water and the subsequent discharge of contaminated ground w

Climate evolution, with the foreseen increase of temperature and frequency of drought events during the summer, could cause significant changes in the availability of water resources specially in the Mediterranean region. European countries need to encourage sustainable agriculture practices, reducing inputs, especially of water, and minimizing any negative impact on crop quantity and quality. Olive is an important crop in the Mediterranean region that has traditionally been cultivated with no irrigation and is known to attain acceptable production under dry farming. Therefore this crop will not compete for foreseen reduced water resources. However, a good quantitative knowledge must be available about effects of reduced precipitation and wateravailability on yield. Yield response functions, coupled with indicators of soil wateravailability, provide a quantitative description of the cultivar- specific behavior in relation to hydrological conditions. Yield response functions of 11 olive cultivars, typical of Mediterranean environment, were determined using experimental data (unpublished or reported in scientific literature). The yield was expressed as relative yield (Yr); the soil wateravailability was described by means of different indicators: relative soil water deficit (RSWD), relative evapotranspiration (RED) and transpiration deficit (RTD). Crops can respond nonlinearly to changes in their growing conditions and exhibit threshold responses, so for the yield functions of each olive cultivar both linear regression and threshold-slope models were considered to evaluate the best fit. The level of relative yield attained in rain-fed conditions was identified and defined as the acceptable yield level (Yrrainfed). The value of the indicator (RSWD, RED and RTD) corresponding to Yrrainfed was determined for each cultivar and indicated as the critical value of wateravailability. The error in the determination of the critical value was estimated. By means of a

Soil wateravailability for plant transpiration is a key concept in agronomy. The objective of this study is to revisit this concept and discuss how it may be affected by processes locally influencing root hydraulic properties. A physical limitation to soil wateravailability in terms of maximal flow rate available to plant leaves (Qavail) is defined. It is expressed for isohydric plants, in terms of plant-centered variables and properties (the equivalent soil water potential sensed by the plant, ψs eq; the root system equivalent conductance, Krs; and a threshold leaf water potential, ψleaf lim). The resulting limitation to plant transpiration is compared to commonly used empirical stress functions. Similarities suggest that the slope of empirical functions might correspond to the ratio of Krs to the plant potential transpiration rate. The sensitivity of Qavail to local changes of root hydraulic conductances in response to soil matric potential is investigated using model simulations. A decrease of radial conductances when the soil dries induces earlier water stress, but allows maintaining higher night plant water potentials and higher Qavail during the last week of a simulated 1 month drought. In opposition, an increase of radial conductances during soil drying provokes an increase of hydraulic redistribution and Qavail at short term. This study offers a first insight on the effect of dynamic local root hydraulic properties on soil wateravailability. By better understanding complex interactions between hydraulic processes involved in soil-plant hydrodynamics, better prospects on how root hydraulic traits mitigate plant water stress might be achieved.

environments. However, little is known about biofilm bacteria developed on metal surfaces, especially immersed in tropical marine waters. Similarly, not much is known about the nature of organic matter deposited on the surfaces over the period of immersion...

In hydrological forecasting, data assimilation techniques are employed to improve estimates of initial conditions to update incorrect model states with observational data. However, the limited availability of continuous and up-to-date ground streamflow data is one of the main constraints for large-scale flood forecasting models. This is the first study that assess the impact of assimilating daily remotely sensed surfacewater extent at a 0.1° × 0.1° spatial resolution derived from the Global Flood Detection System (GFDS) into a global rainfall-runoff including large ungauged areas at the continental spatial scale in Africa and South America. Surfacewater extent is observed using a range of passive microwave remote sensors. The methodology uses the brightness temperature as water bodies have a lower emissivity. In a time series, the satellite signal is expected to vary with changes in watersurface, and anomalies can be correlated with flood events. The Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) is a Monte-Carlo implementation of data assimilation and used here by applying random sampling perturbations to the precipitation inputs to account for uncertainty obtaining ensemble streamflow simulations from the LISFLOOD model. Results of the updated streamflow simulation are compared to baseline simulations, without assimilation of the satellite-derived surfacewater extent. Validation is done in over 100 in situ river gauges using daily streamflow observations in the African and South American continent over a one year period. Some of the more commonly used metrics in hydrology were calculated: KGE', NSE, PBIAS%, R(2), RMSE, and VE. Results show that, for example, NSE score improved on 61 out of 101 stations obtaining significant improvements in both the timing and volume of the flow peaks. Whereas the validation at gauges located in lowland jungle obtained poorest performance mainly due to the closed forest influence on the satellite signal retrieval. The conclusion is that

In hydrological forecasting, data assimilation techniques are employed to improve estimates of initial conditions to update incorrect model states with observational data. However, the limited availability of continuous and up-to-date ground streamflow data is one of the main constraints for large-scale flood forecasting models. This is the first study that assess the impact of assimilating daily remotely sensed surfacewater extent at a 0.1° × 0.1° spatial resolution derived from the Global Flood Detection System (GFDS) into a global rainfall-runoff including large ungauged areas at the continental spatial scale in Africa and South America. Surfacewater extent is observed using a range of passive microwave remote sensors. The methodology uses the brightness temperature as water bodies have a lower emissivity. In a time series, the satellite signal is expected to vary with changes in watersurface, and anomalies can be correlated with flood events. The Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) is a Monte-Carlo implementation of data assimilation and used here by applying random sampling perturbations to the precipitation inputs to account for uncertainty obtaining ensemble streamflow simulations from the LISFLOOD model. Results of the updated streamflow simulation are compared to baseline simulations, without assimilation of the satellite-derived surfacewater extent. Validation is done in over 100 in situ river gauges using daily streamflow observations in the African and South American continent over a one year period. Some of the more commonly used metrics in hydrology were calculated: KGE', NSE, PBIAS%, R2, RMSE, and VE. Results show that, for example, NSE score improved on 61 out of 101 stations obtaining significant improvements in both the timing and volume of the flow peaks. Whereas the validation at gauges located in lowland jungle obtained poorest performance mainly due to the closed forest influence on the satellite signal retrieval. The conclusion is that

Interactions of thin water films with surfaces of graphite and vitrified room-temperature ionic liquid [1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([bmim][PF(6)])] were investigated using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry as a function of temperature and annealing time to elucidate the glass-liquid transition of water at the molecular level. Surface diffusion of water occurs at temperatures higher than 120 K, thereby forming three-dimensional clusters (a two-dimensional layer) on the [bmim][PF(6)] (graphite) surface. The hydrophobic effect of the surface decreases with increasing coverage of water; the bulklike properties evolve up to 40 ML, as evidenced by the occurrence of film dewetting at around the conventional glass transition temperature (140 K). Results also showed that aging is necessary for the water monolayer (a 40 ML water film) to dewet the graphite ([bmim][PF(6)]) surface. The occurrence of aging is explainable by the successive evolution of two distinct liquids during the glass-liquid transition: low density liquid is followed by supercooled liquid water. The water monolayer on graphite is characterized by the preferred orientation of unpaired OH groups toward the surface; this structure is arrested during the aging time despite the occurrence of surface diffusion. However, the water monolayer formed on the [bmim][PF(6)] surface agglomerates immediately after the commencement of surface diffusion. The structure of low density liquid tends to be arrested by the attractive interaction with the neighbors.

Population growth and the potential development of subsurface mineral resources have increased the need for information on the availability and quality of ground water on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Southern Ute Tribal Council, the Four Corners Regional Planning Commission, and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, conducted a study during 1974-76 to assess the ground-water resources of the reservation. Water occurs in aquifers in the Dakota Sandstone, Mancos Shale, Mesaverde Group, Lewis Shale, Pictured Cliffs Sandstone, Fruitland Formation, Kirtland Shale, Animas and San Jose Formations, and terrace and flood-plain deposits. Well yields from sandstone and shale aquifers are small, generally in the range from 1 to 10 gallons per minute with maximum reported yields of 75 gallons per minute. Well yields from terrace deposits generally range from 5 to 10 gallons per minute with maximum yields of 50 gallons per minute. Well yields from flood-plain deposits are as much as 25 gallons per minute but average 10 gallons per minute. Water quality in aquifers depends in part on rock type. Water from sandstone, terrace, and flood-plain aquifers is predominantly a calcium bicarbonate type, whereas water from shale aquifers is predominantly a sodium bicarbonate type. Water from rocks containing interbeds of coal or carbonaceous shales may be either a calcium or sodium sulfate type. Dissolved-solids concentrations of ground water ranged from 115 to 7,130 milligrams per liter. Water from bedrock aquifers is the most mineralized, while water from terrace and flood-plain aquifers is the least mineralized. In many water samples collected from bedrock, terrace, and flood-plain aquifers, the concentrations of arsenic, chloride, dissolved solids, fluoride, iron, manganese, nitrate, selenium, and sulfate exceeded U.S. Public Health Service (1962) recommended limits for drinking water. Selenium in the ground water in excess of U

Treating household water with low-cost, widely available commercial bleach is recommended by some organizations to improve water quality and reduce disease in developing countries. I analyzed the chlorine concentration of 32 bleaches from 12 developing countries; the average error between advertised and measured concentration was 35% (range = –45%–100%; standard deviation = 40%). Because of disparities between advertised and actual concentration, the use of commercial bleach for water treatment in developing countries is not recommended without ongoing quality control testing. PMID:19762657

The report is the first to study and discuss the effect of water supply problems of geothermal development. Geothermal energy resources have the potential of making a significant contribution to the U.S. energy supply situation, especially at the regional and local levels where the resources are located. A significant issue of concern is the availability and cost of water for use in a geothermal power operation primarily because geothermal power plants require large quantities of water for cooling, sludge handling and the operation of environmental control systems. On a per unit basis, geothermal power plants, because of their inherent high heat rejection rates, have cooling requirements several times greater than the conventional fossil fuel plants and therefore the supply of water is a critical factor in the planning, designing, and siting of geothermal power plants. However, no studies have been specifically performed to identify the water requirements of geothermal power plants, the underlying causes of wateravailability problems, and available techniques to alleviate some of these problems. There is no cost data included in the report. The report includes some descriptions of known geothermal areas. [DJE-2005

Full Text Available This paper describes the status of water resources availability and demand in the upper and middle Tempisque watershed projected up to 2030 and the proposed actions to start a planning process. The resource availability scenarios incorporate the modifications inwater flows due to land use and cli­mate changes; these combined effects increases the problems of water shortages during the dry season. The resource demand scenarios include projections provided by the major users in the watershed, of which very few can envision growth expectations in terms of water consumption. The proposed resource planning process integrates the analysis conducted in this thesis and tries to identify the basic steps to be followed for the pro­per management of the resource in the future.

We live in a time of increasing strains on our global fresh wateravailability due to increasing population, warming climate, changes in precipitation, and extensive depletion of groundwater supplies. At the same time, we have seen enormous growth in capabilities to remotely sense the regional to global water cycle and model complex systems with physically based frameworks. The GEWEX WaterAvailability Grand Challenge for North America is poised to leverage this convergence of remote sensing and modeling capabilities to answer fundamental questions on the water cycle. In particular, we envision an experiment that targets the complex and resource-critical Western US from California to just into the Great Plains, constraining physically-based hydrologic modeling with the US and international remote sensing capabilities. In particular, the last decade has seen the implementation or soon-to-be launch of water cycle missions such as GRACE and GRACE-FO for groundwater, SMAP for soil moisture, GPM for precipitation, SWOT for terrestrial surfacewater, and the Airborne Snow Observatory for snowpack. With the advent of convection-resolving mesoscale climate and water cycle modeling (e.g. WRF, WRF-Hydro) and mesoscale models capable of quantitative assimilation of remotely sensed data (e.g. the JPL Western States Water Mission), we can now begin to test hypotheses on the nature and changes in the water cycle of the Western US from a physical standpoint. In turn, by fusing water cycle science, water management, and ecosystem management while addressing these hypotheses, this golden age of remote sensing and modeling can bring all fields into a markedly less uncertain state of present knowledge and decadal scale forecasts.

Full Text Available Soil water content is a critical factor in Mediterranean forest vegetation, especially in areas subjected to prolonged summer drought where winter and autumn rainfall are the main sources of water. Available soil water capacity (AWC is the maximum amount of wateravailable for plants that a soil could possibly contain. Each soil has a specific availablewater capacity, however, most of the published literature on AWC refers 10 agricultural settings, although the interaction between the soil and the vegetation dynamics has long been recognized. The aim of this study was to investigate whether this edaphic factor could be discriminant in species assemblage of communities belonging to the thermophylous oak forest (order Quercetalia pubescentis. Thirty-two vegetation relevés and soil profiles were carried out in five different sites, with a similar pluvio-thermic regime, located in the sub-coastal belt of Latium, Central Italy. From the physical\\-chemical analyses of soil profiles, the AWC values, of the related relevés, were calculated. Multivariate statistical analysis was applied to the vegetation surveys, using Cluster Analysis from which a classification in three different clusters was obtained; subsequently the AWC values were grouped according to the c1assification obtained. Analysis of variance was used to test similarity and the output pointed out a significant difference among the three clusters (F=6.35; P

Full Text Available Soil water content is a critical factor in Mediterranean forest vegetation, especially in areas subjected to prolonged summer drought where winter and autumn rainfall are the main sources of water. Available soil water capacity (AWC is the maximum amount of wateravailable for plants that a soil could possibly contain. Each soil has a specific availablewater capacity, however, most of the published literature on AWC refers 10 agricultural settings, although the interaction between the soil and the vegetation dynamics has long been recognized. The aim of this study was to investigate whether this edaphic factor could be discriminant in species assemblage of communities belonging to the thermophylous oak forest (order Quercetalia pubescentis. Thirty-two vegetation relevés and soil profiles were carried out in five different sites, with a similar pluvio-thermic regime, located in the sub-coastal belt of Latium, Central Italy. From the physical-chemical analyses of soil profiles, the AWC values, of the related relevés, were calculated. Multivariate statistical analysis was applied to the vegetation surveys, using Cluster Analysis from which a classification in three different clusters was obtained; subsequently the AWC values were grouped according to the c1assification obtained. Analysis of variance was used to test similarity and the output pointed out a significant difference among the three clusters (F=6.35; P

The common bean is an important source of iron and zinc in humans. Increases in the contents of these minerals can combat mineral deficiencies, but these contents are influenced by environmental conditions. Thus, the objectives of this study were to investigate the interaction between common bean lines and wateravailability on iron and zinc contents (CFe and CZn, respectively), identify superior lines with stable CFe and CZn, and test for a genetic relationship between CFe and CZn. Six crop trials were performed using a randomized block design with three replications. The trials were performed during the winter sowing period for three different combinations of year and site in Brazil. For each combination, 53 lines were evaluated across two parallel trials; one trial was irrigated according to the crop requirements, and the other trial operated under a water deficit. Interaction was detected between lines and environments, and between lines and wateravailability for CFe and CZn. However, some lines exhibited high CFe and CZn in both conditions. Lines G 6492 and G 6490 exhibited high mean values, stability, and adaptability for both minerals. Other lines exhibited high CFe (Xamego) or CZn (Bambuí and Iapar 65). A moderate genetic correlation (0.62) between CFe and CZn was detected. Wateravailability during the common bean cycle had an effect on CFe and CZn; however, lines with high CFe and CZn in different conditions of wateravailability and environment were detected.

Full Text Available Bamboo-based agroforestry is suitable for soils which are poor in nutrient. The characteristics of bamboo and the rapid closure of its canopy improve soil cover, soil nutrient availability and soil moisture content, and prevent erosion by reducing surface runoff. The research was aimed at determining the factors that influenced surface runoff and the availability of soil organic matter (SOM in the bamboo-based agroforestry in East Lombok. Research was done from March 2010 to March 2011 in Lenek Daya village, Aikmel sub-district, East Lombok district. The research plots were located on slopes of 0-15o, 30-45o, and 45-65o; with bamboo canopy closures of 0-25%, 25-50%, 50-75%, and over 75%. The research involving 12 plots, each in 4 x 12 m size. Measurements included surface runoff, bamboo canopy closure, weeds and bamboo leaves litter weight, rainfall depth and duration, dissolved sediment, and soil physical and chemical properties as well as SOM. Correlation and multiple linear regression tests were used in data analysis. The results of the regression tests showed a change in surface runoff which was influenced by changes in bamboo canopy closure, rain duration, rain intensity and soil sand fraction, each by -0.019, 0.418, 0.049 and -0.065 respectively. Rain duration was the highest influencing variable, whereas bamboo canopy closure significantly decreased surface runoff. Bamboo canopy closure had no correlation with the increase of SOM. But, the increase of SOM had correlation with the increase of soil cation exchange capacity (CEC. The positive impact of bamboo canopy closure on Regosol soil fertility in bamboo-based agroforestry land was determined by land management intensity which could increase the availability of SOM and decrease phosphorus element loss due to leaching of nutrient.

The need for additional water has increased in recent years on the Acoma and Laguna Indian Reservations in west-central New Mexico because the population and per capita use of water have increased; the tribes also desire water for light industry, for more modern schools, and to increase their irrigation program. Many wells have been drilled in the area, but most have been disappointing because of small yields and poor chemical quality of the water. The topography in the Acoma and Laguna Indian Reservations is controlled primarily by the regional and local dip of alternating beds of sandstone and shale and by the igneous complex of Mount Taylor. The entrenched alluvial valley along the Rio San Jose, which traverses the area, ranges in width from about 0.4 mile to about 2 miles. The climate is characterized by scant rainfall, which occurs mainly in summer, low relative humidity, and large daily fluctuations of temperature. Most of the surfacewater enters the area through the Rio San Jose. The average annual streamflow past the gaging station Rio San Jose near Grants, N. Mex. is about 4,000 acre-feet. Tributaries to the Rio San Jose within the area probably contribute about 1,000 acre-feet per year. At the present time, most of the surfacewater is used for irrigation. Ground water is obtained from consolidated sedimentary rocks that range in age from Triassic to Cretaceous, and from unconsolidated alluvium of Quaternary age. The principal aquifers are the Dakota Sandstone, the Tres Hermanos Sandstone Member of the Mancos Shale, and the alluvium. The Dakota Sandstone yields 5 to 50 gpm (gallons per minute) of water to domestic and stock wells. The Tres Hermanos sandstone Member generally yields 5 to 20 gpm of water to domestic and stock wells. Locally, beds of sandstone in the Chinle and Morrison Formations, the Entrada Sandstone, and the Bluff Sandstone also yield small supplies of water to domestic and stock wells. The alluvium yields from 2 gpm to as much as 150

Since the end of the 19th century, flood protection was increasingly based on the construction of impermeable dams and side walls (BWG, 2003). In spite of providing flood protection, these measures also limited the connectivity between the river and the land, restricted the area available for flooding, and hampered the natural flow dynamics of the river. Apart from the debilitating effect on riverine ecosystems due to loss of habitats, these measures also limited bank filtration, inhibited the infiltration of storm water, and affected groundwater-surfacewater-interactions. This in turn had a profound effect on ecosystem health, as a lack of groundwater-surfacewater interactions led to decreased cycling of pollutants and nutrients in the hyporheic zone and limited the moderation of the water temperature (EA, 2009). In recent decades, it has become apparent that further damages to riverine ecosystems must be prohibited, as the damages to ecology, economy and society surmount any benefits gained from exploiting them. Nowadays, the restoration of rivers is a globally accepted means to restore ecosystem functioning, protect water resources and amend flood protection (Andrea et al., 2012; Palmer et al., 2005; Wortley et al., 2013). In spite of huge efforts regarding the restoration of rivers over the last 30 years, the question of its effectiveness remains, as river restorations often reconstruct a naturally looking rather than a naturally functioning stream (EA, 2009). We therefore focussed our research on the effectiveness of river restorations, represented by the groundwater-surfacewater-interactions. Given a sufficiently high groundwater level, a lack of groundwater-surfacewater-interactions after restoration may indicate that the vertical connectivity in the stream was not fully restored. In order to investigate groundwater-surfacewater-interactions we determined the thermal signature on the stream bed and in +/- 40 cm depth by using Distributed Temperature

Nov 25, 2014 ... There is seasonal water scarcity in Marigat Division and the water demand has been ... with improved storage and rainwater harvesting methods. Such water can be ..... in the planning process and decision making and this ... The organizations support the community ... systems for domestic uses in urban.

Full Text Available Knowledge of instream flow is of paramount importance to determine wateravailability for water resources management. This study estimated instream flow and evaluated wateravailability in the stretch of the Rio das Pedras, which supplies water to Guarapuava, a town in the mid-southern region of the state of Paraná, Brazil. Several different methods were employed to obtain instream flow, a reference discharge for water consumption permit, and the river regime. Methods comprised 7-day mean minimum with a 10-year return period, discharges associated to 95% and 90% permanence, yearly 7-day mean minimum discharge and basic water discharge. Discharge data were obtained from the meteorological station at the Water Station of Guarapuava (ETA. Results show that yearly river debit between 1985 and 2009 had a daily mean of 9.12 m³ s-1 and a median discharge of 9.16 m³ s-1. Estimated instream flow, measured by methods used for the Rio das Pedras stretch, ranged from 1.72 to 2.74 m³ s-1, with an average of 2.20 m³ s-1 and a coefficient of variation of 19.5%. Discharge for the stretch was estimated as 0.91 m³ s-1, following criteria used in the state of Paraná. The relationship of the evaluated stretch between daily flow and the intake volume granted by the government revealed the inefficiency of the applied methods for instream flow assessment. In fact, they failed to warrant a minimum water volume required for the conservation of the river ecosystem.

Full Text Available Aim of study: The eucalyptus grows rapidly and is well suitable to edaphic and bioclimatic conditions in several regions of of the world. The aim of this study was to assess the performance of Eucalyptus urograndis hybrids grown under different wateravailability conditions.Area of study: The study was performed in south-eastern of BrazilMaterial and Methods: We evaluated five commercial hybrids cultivated in pots with the substrate maintained at 65, 50, 35 and 20% maximum water retention capacity. The evaluation was based on the following characteristics: total height (cm, diameter (mm, number of leaves, leaf area (dm2, and dry weight (g plant-1 of leaf, stem + branches, root, shoot and total and root/shoot ratio.Main results: All the characteristics evaluated were adversely affected by reduced availability of water in the substrate. The hybrids assessed performed differently in terms of biometric characteristics, irrespective of wateravailability. Water deficit resulted in a greater reduction in the dry weight production compared to number of leaves, diameter and height. Hybrids H2 and H5 have favorable traits for tolerating drought. The hybrid H2 shows a stronger slowdown in growth as soil moisture levels drop, although its growth rate is low, and H5 increases the root/shoot ratio but maintains growth in terms of height, even under drought conditions.Research highlights: The results obtained in our experiment show that productive hybrids sensitive to drought could also perform better under water deficit conditions, maintaining satisfactory growth despite significant drops in these characteristics.Keywords: Eucalyptus urograndis; water deficit; drought tolerance.

We studied the interaction of light and water on water-use efficiency in cork oak (Quercus suber L.) seedlings. One-year-old cork oak seedlings were grown in pots in a factorial experiment with four light treatments (68, 50, 15 and 5% of full sunlight) and two irrigation regimes: well watered (WW) and moderate drought stress (WS). Leaf predawn water potential, which was measured at the end of each of two cycles, did not differ among the light treatments. Water-use efficiency, assessed by carbon isotope composition (delta(13)C), tended to increase with increasing irradiance. The trend was similar in the WW and WS treatments, though with lower delta(13)C in all light treatments in the WW irrigation regime. Specific leaf area increased with decreasing irradiance, and was inversely correlated with delta(13)C. Thus, changes in delta(13)C could be explained in part by light-induced modifications in leaf morphology. The relationship between stomatal conductance to water vapor and net photosynthesis on a leaf area basis confirmed that seedlings in higher irradiances maintained a higher rate of carbon uptake at a particular stomatal conductance, implying that shaded seedlings have a lower water-use efficiency that is unrelated to wateravailability.

Surfacewater is a primary concept of human experience but concepts are captured in cultures and languages in many different ways. Still, many commonalities exist due to the physical basis of many of the properties and categories. An abstract ontology of surfacewater features based only on those physical properties of landscape features has the best potential for serving as a foundational domain ontology for other more context-dependent ontologies. The SurfaceWater ontology design pattern was developed both for domain knowledge distillation and to serve as a conceptual building-block for more complex or specialized surfacewater ontologies. A fundamental distinction is made in this ontology between landscape features that act as containers (e.g., stream channels, basins) and the bodies of water (e.g., rivers, lakes) that occupy those containers. Concave (container) landforms semantics are specified in a Dry module and the semantics of contained bodies of water in a Wet module. The pattern is implemented in OWL, but Description Logic axioms and a detailed explanation is provided in this paper. The OWL ontology will be an important contribution to Semantic Web vocabulary for annotating surfacewater feature datasets. Also provided is a discussion of why there is a need to complement the pattern with other ontologies, especially the previously developed Surface Network pattern. Finally, the practical value of the pattern in semantic querying of surfacewater datasets is illustrated through an annotated geospatial dataset and sample queries using the classes of the SurfaceWater pattern.

Goethite widely exists among ocean sediments; it plays an important role in fixing heavy metals and adsorbing organic contaminants. So the understanding of the adsorbing process of water molecule on its surface will be very helpful to further reveal such environmental friendly processes. The configuration, electronic properties and interaction energy of water molecules adsorbed on pnma goethite (010) surface were investigated in detail by using density functional theory on 6-31G (d,p) basis set and projector- augment wave (PAW) method. The mechanism of the interaction between goethite surface and H2O was proposed. Despite the differences in total energy, there are four possible types of water molecule adsorption configurations on goethite (010) surface (Aa, Ab, Ba, Bb), forming coordination bond with surface Fe atom. Results of theoretical modeling indicate that the dissociation process of adsorbed water is an endothermic reaction with high activation energy. The dissociation of adsorbed water molecule is a proton transportation process between water's O atoms and surface. PDOS results indicate that the bonding between H2O and (010) surface is due to the overlapping of water's 2p orbitals and Fe's 3d orbitals. These results clarify the mechanism on how adsorbed water is dissociated on the surface of goethite and potentially provide useful information of the surface chemistry of goethite.

As part of regulatory requirements for shallow-water habitat (SWH) restoration, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) completes periodic estimates of the quantity of SWH available throughout the lower 752 mi of the Missouri River. To date, these estimates have been made by various methods that consider only the water depth criterion for SWH. The USACE has completed estimates of SWH availability based on both depth and velocity criteria at four river bends (hereafter called reference bends), encompassing approximately 8 river miles within the lower 752 mi of the Missouri River. These estimates were made from the results of hydraulic modeling of water depth and velocity throughout each bend. Hydraulic modeling of additional river bends is not expected to be completed for deriving estimates of available SWH. Instead, future estimates of SWH will be based on the water depth criterion. The objective of this project, conducted by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory for the USACE Omaha District, was to develop geographic information system methods for estimating the quantity of available SWH based on water depth only. Knowing that only a limited amount of water depth and channel geometry data would be available for all the remaining bends within the lower 752 mi of the Missouri River, the intent was to determine what information, if any, from the four reference bends could be used to develop methods for estimating SWH at the remaining bends. Specifically, we examined the relationship between cross-section channel morphology and relative differences between SWH estimates based on combined depth and velocity criteria and the depth-only criterion to determine if a correction factor could be applied to estimates of SWH based on the depth-only criterion. In developing these methods, we also explored the applicability of two commonly used geographic information system interpolation methods (TIN and ANUDEM) for estimating SWH using four different elevation data

Full Text Available The retention and availability of water in the soil vary according to the soil characteristics and determine plant growth. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate water retention and availability in the soils of the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil, according to the textural class, soil class and lithology. The surface and subsurface horizons of 44 profiles were sampled in different regions of the State and different cover crops to determine field capacity, permanent wilting point, availablewater content, particle size, and organic matter content. Water retention and availability between the horizons were compared in a mixed model, considering the textural classes, the soil classes and lithology as fixed factors and profiles as random factors. It may be concluded that water retention is greater in silty or clayey soils and that the organic matter content is higher, especially in Humic Cambisols, Nitisols and Ferralsol developed from igneous or sedimentary rocks. Wateravailability is greater in loam-textured soils, with high organic matter content, especially in soils of humic character. It is lower in the sandy texture class, especially in Arenosols formed from recent alluvial deposits or in gravelly soils derived from granite. The greater wateravailability in the surface horizons, with more organic matter than in the subsurface layers, illustrates the importance of organic matter for water retention and availability.

each water source in each time step (i.e., reservoir diversion and groundwater pumping). The results provide valuable information for analysing the impacts of the conjunctive use of surfacewater and groundwater. For example, considering a drought scenario, the results show how the same level of total water supplied can be achieved by different management alternatives with different impact on the water quality, costs, and the state of the water sources at the end of the time horizon. The results allow also the clear understanding of the potential benefits from the conjunctive use of surfacewater and groundwater thorough the mitigation of the variation in the availability of surfacewater, improving the water quantity and/or water quality delivered to the users, or the better adaptation of such systems to a changing world.

Drinking water wells are often placed near streams because streams often overly permeable sediments and the water table is near the surface in valleys, and so pumping costs are reduced. The lowering of the water table by pumping wells can reverse the natural flow from the groundwater to the stream......, inducing infiltration of surfacewater to groundwater and consequently to the drinking water well. Many attenuation processes can take place in the riparian zone, mainly due to mixing, biodegradation and sorption. However, if the water travel time from the surfacewater to the pumping well is too short......, or if the compounds are poorly degradable, contaminants can reach the drinking water well at high concentrations, jeopardizing drinking water quality. Here we developed a reactive transport model to evaluate the risk of contamination of drinking water wells by surfacewater pollution. The model was validated using...

In this study, the factors that induced a decrease in the incidence of typhoid fever were analyzed. Based on the study results, we propose a quantitative and concrete solution to reduce the incidence of typhoid fever. We analyzed the incidence and fatality rate of typhoid fever in Korea. Tap water service rate and the number of pharmacies, which affect the incidence rate of typhoid fever, were used as environmental factors. To prevent typhoid fever in the community, it is necessary to provide clean tap water service to 35.5% of the population, with an individual requiring 173 L of clean water daily. Appropriate access to clean water (51% service coverage, 307 L) helped the population to maintain individual hygiene and food safety practices, which brought about a decrease in the incidence of typhoid fever, and subsequently a decrease in fatality rate, which was achieved twice. During the 8-year study period, the fatality rate decreased to 1% when the population has access to proper medical service. The fatality rate was primarily affected by the availability of medical services as well as by the incidence of typhoid fever. However, an analysis of the study results showed that the incidence of typhoid fever was affected only by the availability of clean water through the tap water system.

Treelines occur where environmental gradients such as temperature become limiting to tree establishment, and are thus likely to respond to changes in climate. We collected gas exchange, water potential, and fluorescence measurements from limber pine (Pinus flexilis) seedlings planted into experimental plots at three elevations at Niwot Ridge, Colorado, ranging from within forest to alpine. At each site seeds from local high- and low-elevation populations were sewn into replicated and controlled watering and infrared heating treatment plots. Heating led to earlier snowmelt, germination, and soil moisture availability in spring; higher soil surface temperatures throughout the growing season; and drier soils in late summer. Assimilation rates in all plots were most strongly associated with soil moisture availability following germination, and decreased as soils dried over the growing season. Intrinsic water use efficiency was consistent for the two source populations, but there was evidence that individuals germinating from high-elevation seeds respired more per unit carbon assimilated under our experimental conditions. Chlorophyll fluorescence showed no evidence of photoinhibition in any elevation or treatment category. Earlier soil moisture depletion in heated plots was associated with lower midday stem water potentials and reduced stomatal conductance in August. Our watering treatments did not substantially reduce apparent midsummer water stress. Seedlings in ambient temperature plots had higher assimilation rates in August than those in heated plots, but also greater carbon loss via photorespiration. Moisture limitation in heated plots in summer interacted with variability in afternoon sun exposure within plots, and qualitative observations suggested that many seedlings were killed by desiccation and heat girdling at all elevations. While early snowmelt and moisture availability in heated plots provided a longer growing season, earlier reduction of soil moisture

Lakes are dominant landforms in the National Petroleum Reserve Alaska (NPRA) as well as important social and ecological resources. Of recent importance is the management of these freshwater ecosystems because lakes deeper than maximum ice thickness provide an important and often sole source of liquid water for aquatic biota, villages, and industry during winter. To better understand seasonal and annual hydrodynamics in the context of lake morphometry, we analyzed lakes in two adjacent areas where winter water use is expected to increase in the near future because of industrial expansion. Landsat Thematic Mapper and Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus imagery acquired between 1985 and 2007 were analyzed and compared with climate data to understand interannual variability. Measured changes in lake area extent varied by 0.6% and were significantly correlated to total precipitation in the preceding 12 months (p growth models were used to better understand seasonal hydrodynamics, surface area-to-volume relations, winter wateravailability, and more permanent changes related to geomorphic change. Together, these results describe how lakes vary seasonally and annually in two critical areas of the NPRA and provide simple models to help better predict variation in lake-water supply. Our findings suggest that both overestimation and underestimation of actual available winter water volume may occur regularly, and this understanding may help better inform management strategies as future resource use expands in the NPRA. ?? 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Full Text Available A semi-empirical approach was used to quantify the modification of the underwater light field in amplitude (magnitude effect and spectral distribution (spectral effect by different atmospheric conditions altering the incident light. The approach based on an optical model in connection with radiation measurements in the area off Northwest Africa. Key inputs of the model were parameterized magnitude and spectral effects. Various atmospheric conditions were considered: clear sky, dusty sky without clouds, cloudy sky without dust and skies with different ratios of dust and clouds. Their impacts were investigated concerning the modification of the downward irradiance and photosynthetically available radiation in the water column. The impact on downward irradiance depended on the wavelength, the water depth, the optical water properties, the dust and cloud properties, and the ratio of clouds to dust. The influence of clouds on the amplitude can be much higher than that of dust. Saharan dust reduced the photosynthetically available radiation in the water column. Ocean regions were more influenced than coastal areas. Compensations of the magnitude and spectral effects were observed at special water depths in ocean regions and at atmospheric conditions with definite cloud to dust ratios.

Endocarp developmental timing in drupe-type fruits, involving tissue expansion and sclerification processes, is increasingly used as marker for biological studies and crop management. In spite of its wide application, however, little is known regarding how these morphogenetic processes unfold or the factors that modify it. This study evaluates endocarp expansion and sclerification of olive (Olea europaea) fruits, used as an example of drupe-type fruits, from trees growing under different water regimes: full irrigated, deficit irrigated (moderate reduction of wateravailability) and rainfed (severe reduction of wateravailability). Fruits were sampled weekly until pit hardening, and fruit and endocarp areas were evaluated in histological preparations. An image analysis process was tested and adjusted to quantify sclerified area and distribution within the endocarp. Individual stone cells differentiated independently but distribution and timing indicated the overall coordination of endocarp tissue sclerification. Increase in sclerified area was initially gradual, accelerated abruptly the week prior to the end of endocarp expansion and then continued at an intermediate rate. These results suggest that the end of the expansion period is driven by sclerification and the morphogenetic signals involved act first on sclerification rather than endocarp size. Intensification of sclerification and the end of expansive growth occurred first with lowest water supply. Moderate and severe reductions in wateravailability proportionately decreased endocarp expansion and prolonged the sclerification, delaying the date of physically perceived hardening but not affecting the final degree of endocarp sclerification.

Full Text Available Studies of nutrient availability are important for the understanding and the estimation of soil fertility in areas like West Africa, where low nutrient availability is still one of the major constraints for food production. Physico-chemical soil analyses were used to assess the fertility status of the surface horizon samples of four Malian agricultural soils, (Bougouni, Kangaba, Baguinéda and Gao abbreviated as Bgni, Kgba, Bgda and Gao. Soil texture was sandy loam for Bgni and Kgba, sandy clay loam for Bgda and loamy sand for Gao. Soil pH values varied from moderately acid for Bgda to neutral for the other sites. Organic carbon ranged from very low (for Gao or low (for Bgni and Bgda to medium (for Kgba. Total N, P and CEC were low for the four soils. Available contents of Fe and Mn in all soils, except Gao, were higher than the critical levels while available Cu and Zn contents (except in Kgba were below or close to it. Results indicated that Kgba soil had a better macronutrient status for plant growth than the other sites.

The assembly of small water clusters (H2O)n, n = 1-6, on a graphite surface is studied using a density functional tight-binding method complemented with an empirical van der Waals force correction, with confirmation using second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory. It is shown that the optimized geometry of the water hexamer may change its original structure to an isoenergy one when interacting with a graphite surface in some specific orientation, while the smaller water cluster will maintain its cyclic or linear configurations (for the water dimer). The binding energy of water clusters interacting with graphite is dependent on the number of water molecules that form hydrogen bonds, but is independent of the water cluster size. These physically adsorbed water clusters show little change in their IR peak position and leave an almost perfect graphite surface.

Purpose Life cycle assessment (LCA) has been used to assess freshwater-related impacts according to a new water footprint framework formalized in the ISO 14046 standard. To date, no consensus-based approach exists for applying this standard and results are not always comparable when different scarcity or stress indicators are used for characterization of impacts. This paper presents the outcome of a 2-year consensus building process by the Water Use in Life Cycle Assessment (WULCA), a wor...

Maros karst region, covering an area of 43.750 hectares, has water resources that determine the life around it. Water resources in Maros karst are in the rock layers or river underground in the cave. The data used in this study are primary and secondary data. Primary data includes characteristics of the medium. Secondary data is rainfall data from BMKG, water discharge data from the PSDA, South Sulawesi province in 1990-2010, and the other characteristics data Maros karst, namely cave, flora and fauna of the Bantimurung Bulusaraung National Park. Data analysis was conducted using laboratory test for medium characteristics Maros karst, rainfall and water discharge were analyzed using Minitab Program 1.5 to determine their profile. The average rainfall above 200 mm per year occurs in the range of 1999 to 2005. The availability of the water discharge at over 50 m3/s was happened in 1993 and 1995. Prediction was done by modeling Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA), with the rainfall data shows that the average precipitation for four years (2011-2014) will sharply fluctuate. The prediction of water discharge in Maros karst region was done for the period from January to August in 2011, including the type of 0. In 2012, the addition of the water discharge started up in early 2014.

Full Text Available Group A rotaviruses (RV are the major cause of acute gastroenteritis in infants and young children globally. Waterborne transmission of RV and the presence of RV in water sources are of major public health importance. In this paper, we present the Global Waterborne Pathogen model for RV (GloWPa-Rota model to estimate the global distribution of RV emissions to surfacewater. To our knowledge, this is the first model to do so. We review the literature to estimate three RV specific variables for the model: incidence, excretion rate and removal during wastewater treatment. We estimate total global RV emissions to be 2 × 1018 viral particles/grid/year, of which 87% is produced by the urban population. Hotspot regions with high RV emissions are urban areas in densely populated parts of the world, such as Bangladesh and Nigeria, while low emissions are found in rural areas in North Russia and the Australian desert. Even for industrialized regions with high population density and without tertiary treatment, such as the UK, substantial emissions are estimated. Modeling exercises like the one presented in this paper provide unique opportunities to further study these emissions to surfacewater, their sources and scenarios for improved management.

Full Text Available Photo-excitation of certain semiconductors can lead to the production of reactive oxygen species that can inactivate microorganisms. The mechanisms involved are reviewed, along with two important applications. The first is the use of photocatalysis to enhance the solar disinfection of water. It is estimated that 750 million people do not have accessed to an improved source for drinking and many more rely on sources that are not safe. If one can utilize photocatalysis to enhance the solar disinfection of water and provide an inexpensive, simple method of water disinfection, then it could help reduce the risk of waterborne disease. The second application is the use of photocatalytic coatings to combat healthcare associated infections. Two challenges are considered, i.e., the use of photocatalytic coatings to give “self-disinfecting” surfaces to reduce the risk of transmission of infection via environmental surfaces, and the use of photocatalytic coatings for the decontamination and disinfection of medical devices. In the final section, the development of novel photocatalytic materials for use in disinfection applications is reviewed, taking account of materials, developed for other photocatalytic applications, but which may be transferable for disinfection purposes.

Pavement-watering has been studied since the 1990's and is currently considered a promising tool for urban heat island reduction and climate change adaptation. However, possible future water resource availability problems require that water consumption be optimized. Although pavement heat flux can be studied to improve pavement-watering methods (frequency and water consumption), these measurements are costly and require invasive construction work to install appropriate sensors in a dense urban environment. Therefore, we analyzed measurements of pavement surface temperatures in search of alternative information relevant to this goal. It was found that high frequency surface temperature measurements (more than every 5 minutes) made by an infrared camera can provide enough information to optimize the watering frequency. Furthermore, if the water retaining capacity of the studied pavement is known, optimization of total water consumption is possible on the sole basis of surface temperature measurements.

Climate change is expected to alter the hydrological cycle resulting in large-scale impacts on wateravailability. However, future climate change impact assessments are highly uncertain. For the first time, multiple global climate (three) and hydrological 5 models (eight) were used to systematically

In an East African savanna herbaceous layer productivity and species composition were studied around Acacia tortilis trees of three different age classes, as well as around dead trees and in open grassland patches. The effects of trees on nutrient, light and wateravailability were measured to

... From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 10 CFR Part 430 Notice of Availability of Interpretive Rule on the Applicability of Current Water Conservation... ``showerhead'' in the DOE's regulations related to the energy conservation program for consumer products....

Climate change is expected to alter the hydrological cycle resulting in large-scale impacts on wateravailability. However, future climate change impact assessments are highly uncertain. For the first time, multiple global climate (three) and hydrological 5 models (eight) were used to systematically

Long-term water resource management requires the capacity to evaluate alternative management options in the face of various sources of uncertainty in the future conditions of water resource systems. This study proposes a generic framework for determining the relative change in probabilistic characteristics of system performance as a result of changing wateravailability, policy options and irrigation expansion. These probabilistic characteristics can be considered to represent the risk of failure in the system performance due to the uncertainty in future conditions. Quantifying the relative change in the performance risk can provide a basis for understanding the effects of multiple changing conditions on the system behavior. This framework was applied to the water resource system of the Saskatchewan River Basin (SaskRB) in Saskatchewan, Canada. A "bottom-up" flow reconstruction algorithm was used to generate multiple realizations for wateravailability within a feasible range of change in streamflow characteristics. Consistent with observed data and projected change in streamflow characteristics, the historical streamflow was perturbed to stochastically generate feasible future flow sequences, based on various combinations of changing annual flow volume and timing of the annual peak. In addition, five alternative policy options, with and without potential irrigation expansion, were considered. All configurations of wateravailability, policy decisions and irrigation expansion options were fed into a hydro-economic water resource system model to obtain empirical probability distributions for system performance - here overall and sectorial net benefits - under the considered changes. Results show that no one specific policy can provide the optimal option for water resource management under all flow conditions. In addition, it was found that the joint impacts of changing wateravailability, policy, and irrigation expansion on system performance are complex and

Flow- and load-duration curves were constructed from the model outputs of the U.S. Geological Survey's WaterAvailability Tool for Environmental Resources (WATER) application for streams in Kentucky. The WATER application was designed to access multiple geospatial datasets to generate more than 60 years of statistically based streamflow data for Kentucky. The WATER application enables a user to graphically select a site on a stream and generate an estimated hydrograph and flow-duration curve for the watershed upstream of that point. The flow-duration curves are constructed by calculating the exceedance probability of the modeled daily streamflows. User-defined water-quality criteria and (or) sampling results can be loaded into the WATER application to construct load-duration curves that are based on the modeled streamflow results. Estimates of flow and streamflow statistics were derived from TOPographically Based Hydrological MODEL (TOPMODEL) simulations in the WATER application. A modified TOPMODEL code, SDP-TOPMODEL (Sinkhole Drainage Process-TOPMODEL) was used to simulate daily mean discharges over the period of record for 5 karst and 5 non-karst watersheds in Kentucky in order to verify the calibrated model. A statistical evaluation of the model's verification simulations show that calibration criteria, established by previous WATER application reports, were met thus insuring the model's ability to provide acceptably accurate estimates of discharge at gaged and ungaged sites throughout Kentucky. Flow-duration curves are constructed in the WATER application by calculating the exceedence probability of the modeled daily flow values. The flow-duration intervals are expressed as a percentage, with zero corresponding to the highest stream discharge in the streamflow record. Load-duration curves are constructed by applying the loading equation (Load = Flow*Water-quality criterion) at each flow interval.

Full Text Available Maintaining the energy of sensors in Wireless Sensor Network (WSN is important in critical applications. It has been a challenge to design wireless sensor networks to enable applications for oceanographicdata collection, pollution monitoring, offshore exploration, disaster prevention, assisted navigation and tactical surveillance applications. WSN consists of sensor nodes which sense the physical parameters such as temperature, humidity, pressure and light etc and send them to a fusion center namely Base Station (BS from where one can get the value of physical parameters at any time. Requirement of monitoring the environment might be anywhere, like middle of the sea or under the earth where man cannot go often to recharge the batterieswhich supplies the sensing device, transceiver and memory unit in the sensor node. So the usage of the battery power must be judicious in WSN. Earlier attempts have been made to prolong the network lifetime, but still it is a challenging task. In this paper we propose a Novel Energy efficient Surfacewater Wireless Sensor Network Algorithm (NES-WSN to optimize the energy consumption by WSN. The present work concentrates on energy saving of sensor nodes when they are deployed in the surface of the sea water. Whenever the sea surface temperature increases there will be a power loss which is reduced by clustering the nodes and by transferring data through multihop routing. Experimental results show that due to increase in temperature there is a definite power loss and it can be minimized by using NES-WSN algorithm definitely.

The tillage experiments for winter wheat were conducted on the slope farmland in Luoyang,Henan Province in the semihumid to arid loess plateau areas of North China. Different tillage methods inclu-ding reduced tillage (RT), no-till (NT), 2 crops/year (2C), subsoiling(SS), and conventional tillage (CT)were compared to determine the effects of tillage methods on soil water conservation, wateravailability, andwheat yields in a search for better farming systems in the areas. The NT and SS showed good effects on waterconservation. The soil water storage increased 12 - 33 mm with NT and 9 - 24 mm with SS at the end of sum-mer fallow periods. The soil evaporation with NT and SS decreased 7 - 8 mm and 34 - 36 mm during the fallowperiods of 1999 and 2001, respectively. Evapotranspiration (ET) with NT and SS increased about 47 mm dur-ing wheat growth periods of 2000 to 2001. Treatment RT and 2C had low water storage and high water lossesduring the fallow periods. The winter wheat yields with conservation tillage practices were improved in the 2ndyear, increased by 3, 5 and 8 % with RT, NT and SS, respectively, compared with CT. The highest wheatyields were obtained with subsoiling, and the maximum economic benefits from no-till. All conservation tillagepractices provided great benefits to saving energy and labors, reducing operation inputs, and increasing eco-nomic returns. No-till and subsoiling have shown promise in increasing water storage, reducing water loss, en-hancing wateravailability, and saving energy, as well as increasing wheat yield.

Here we report a surface curvature-induced directional movement phenomenon, based on molecular dynamics simulations, that a nanoscale water droplet at the outer surface of a graphene cone always spontaneously moves toward the larger end of the cone, and at the inner surface toward the smaller end. The analysis on the van der Waals interaction potential between a single water molecule and a curved graphene surface reveals that the curvature with its gradient does generate the driving force resulting in the above directional motion. Furthermore, we found that the direction of the above movement is independent of the wettability, namely is regardless of either hydrophobic or hydrophilic of the surface. However, the latter surface is in general leading to higher motion speed than the former. The above results provide a basis for a better understanding of many reported observations, and helping design of curved surfaces with desired directional surfacewater transportation.

Surfacewaters collected in the field for chemical analyses are easily contaminated. This research note presents a step-by-step detailed description of how to avoid sample contamination when field collecting, processing, and transporting surfacewater samples for laboratory analysis.

There is the need to answer very crucial questions of "what happens to pollutants in surfacewaters?" This question must be answered to determine the factors controlling fate and transport of chemicals and their evolutionary state in surfacewaters. Monitoring and experimental methods are used in establishing the environmental states.…

There is the need to answer very crucial questions of "what happens to pollutants in surfacewaters?" This question must be answered to determine the factors controlling fate and transport of chemicals and their evolutionary state in surfacewaters. Monitoring and experimental methods are used in establishing the environmental states.…

Understanding how global change is impacting African agriculture requires a full physical accounting of water supply and demand, but accurate, gridded data on key drivers (e.g., humidity) are generally unavailable. We used a new bias-corrected meteorological dataset to analyze changes in precipitation (supply), potential evapotranspiration ({{E}_{p}}, demand), and wateravailability (expressed as the ratio P/{{E}_{p}}) in 20 countries (focusing on their maize-growing regions and seasons), between 1979 and 2010, and the factors driving changes in {{E}_{p}}. Maize-growing areas in Southern Africa, particularly South Africa, benefitted from increased wateravailability due in large part to demand declines driven primarily by declining net radiation, increasing vapor pressure, and falling temperatures (with no effect from changing windspeed), with smaller increases in supply. Sahelian zone countries in West Africa, as well as Ethiopia in East Africa, had strong increases in availability driven primarily by rainfall rebounding from the long-term Sahelian droughts, with little change or small reductions in demand. However, intra-seasonal supply variability generally increased in West and East Africa. Across all three regions, declining net radiation contributed downwards pressure on demand, generally over-riding upwards pressure caused by increasing temperatures, the regional effects of which were largest in East Africa. A small number of countries, mostly in or near East Africa (Tanzania and Malawi) experienced declines in wateravailability primarily due to decreased rainfall, but exacerbated by increasing demand. Much of the reduced wateravailability in East Africa occurred during the more sensitive middle part of the maize-growing season, suggesting negative consequences for maize production.

Groundwater-fed irrigation has been shown to deplete groundwater storage, decrease surfacewater runoff, and increase evapotranspiration. Here we simulate soil moisture-dependent groundwater-fed irrigation with an integrated hydrologic model. This allows for direct consideration of feedbacks between irrigation demand and groundwater depth. Special attention is paid to system dynamics in order to characterized spatial variability in irrigation demand and response to increased irrigation stress. A total of 80 years of simulation are completed for the Little Washita Basin in Southwestern Oklahoma, USA spanning a range of agricultural development scenarios and management practices. Results show regionally aggregated irrigation impacts consistent with other studies. However, here a spectral analysis reveals that groundwater-fed irrigation also amplifies the annual streamflow cycle while dampening longer-term cyclical behavior with increased irrigation during climatological dry periods. Feedbacks between the managed and natural system are clearly observed with respect to both irrigation demand and utilization when water table depths are within a critical range. Although the model domain is heterogeneous with respect to both surface and subsurface parameters, relationships between irrigation demand, water table depth, and irrigation utilization are consistent across space and between scenarios. Still, significant local heterogeneities are observed both with respect to transient behavior and response to stress. Spatial analysis of transient behavior shows that farms with groundwater depths within a critical depth range are most sensitive to management changes. Differences in behavior highlight the importance of groundwater's role in system dynamics in addition to wateravailability.

To improve the understanding of water-vegetation relationships, direct comparative studies assessing the utility of satellite remotely sensed soil moisture, gridded precipitation products, and land surface model output are needed. A case study was investigated for a water-limited, lateral inflow receiving area in northeastern Australia during December 2008 to May 2009. In January 2009, monthly precipitation showed strong positive anomalies, which led to strong positive soil moisture anomalies. The precipitation anomalies disappeared within a month. In contrast, the soil moisture anomalies persisted for months. Positive anomalies of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) appeared in February, in response to water supply, and then persisted for several months. In addition to these temporal characteristics, the spatial patterns of NDVI anomalies were more similar to soil moisture patterns than to those of precipitation and land surface model output. The long memory of soil moisture mainly relates to the presence of clay-rich soils. Modeled soil moisture from four of five global land surface models failed to capture the memory length of soil moisture and all five models failed to present the influence of lateral inflow. This case study indicates that satellite-based soil moisture is a better predictor of vegetation wateravailability than precipitation in environments having a memory of several months and thus is able to persistently affect vegetation dynamics. These results illustrate the usefulness of satellite remotely sensed soil moisture in ecohydrology studies. This case study has the potential to be used as a benchmark for global land surface model evaluations. The advantages of using satellite remotely sensed soil moisture over gridded precipitation products are mainly expected in lateral-inflow and/or clay-rich regions worldwide.

Small islands are regarded as promising areas for developing hybrid water-energy systems that combine multiple sources of renewable energy with pumped-storage facilities. Essential element of such systems is the water storage component (reservoir), which implements both flow and energy regulations. Apparently, the representation of the overall water-energy management problem requires the simulation of the operation of the reservoir system, which in turn requires a faithful estimation of water inflows and demands of water and energy. Yet, in small-scale reservoir systems, this task in far from straightforward, since both the availability and accuracy of associated information is generally very poor. For, in contrast to large-scale reservoir systems, for which it is quite easy to find systematic and reliable hydrological data, in the case of small systems such data may be minor or even totally missing. The stochastic approach is the unique means to account for input data uncertainties within the combined water-energy management problem. Using as example the Livadi reservoir, which is the pumped storage component of the small Aegean island of Astypalaia, Greece, we provide a simulation framework, comprising: (a) a stochastic model for generating synthetic rainfall and temperature time series; (b) a stochastic rainfall-runoff model, whose parameters cannot be inferred through calibration and, thus, they are represented as correlated random variables; (c) a stochastic model for estimating water supply and irrigation demands, based on simulated temperature and soil moisture, and (d) a daily operation model of the reservoir system, providing stochastic forecasts of water and energy outflows. Acknowledgement: This research is conducted within the frame of the undergraduate course "Stochastic Methods in Water Resources" of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). The School of Civil Engineering of NTUA provided moral support for the participation of the students

term goals were to 1. exploit measurements of breaking wave noise and photographic images of whitecaps to infer bubble cloud populations at the sea ...surface reverberation in wind-driven seas , an additional objective has been to study the role of sub-surface bubbles on the attenuation and scattering of...acoustic signals, including determining methods for quantifying bubble populations with video footage of the sea surface and developing models of

All surfaces in water experience at short separations hydration repulsion or hydrophobic attraction, depending on the surface polarity. These interactions dominate the more long-ranged electrostatic and van der Waals interactions and are ubiquitous in biological and colloidal systems. Despite their importance in all scenarios where the surface separation is in the nanometer range, the origin of these hydration interactions is still unclear. Using atomistic solvent-explicit molecular dynamics simulations, we analyze the interaction free energies of charge-neutral model surfaces with different elastic and water-binding properties. The surface polarity is shown to be the most important parameter that not only determines the hydration properties and thereby the water contact angle of a single surface but also the surface-surface interaction and whether two surfaces attract or repel. Elastic properties of the surfaces are less important. On the basis of surface contact angles and surface-surface binding affinities, we construct a universal interaction diagram featuring three different interaction regimes-hydration repulsion, cavitation-induced attraction-and for intermediate surface polarities-dry adhesion. On the basis of scaling arguments and perturbation theory, we establish simple combination rules that predict the interaction behavior for combinations of dissimilar surfaces.

The efficient use of water and nitrogen (N) to promote growth and increase yield of fruit trees and crops is well studied.However,little is known about their effects on woody plants growing in arid and semiarid areas with limited water and N availability.To examine the effects of water and N supply on early growth and water use efficiency (WUE) of trees on dry soils,one-year-old seedlings of Robinia pseudoacacia were exposed to three soil water contents (non-limiting,medium drought,and severe drought) as well as to low and high N levels,for four months.Photosynthetic parameters,leaf instantaneous WUE (WUEi) and whole tree WUE (WUEb)were determined.Results showed that,independent of N levels,increasing soil water content enhanced the tree transpiration rate (Tr),stomatal conductance (Gs),intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci),maximum net assimilation rate (Amax),apparent quantum yield (AQY),the range of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) due to both reduced light compensation point and enhanced light saturation point,and dark respiration rate (Rd),resulting in a higher net photosynthetic rate (Pn) and a significantly increased whole tree biomass.Consequently,WUEi and WUEb were reduced at low N,whereas WUEi was enhanced at high N levels.Irrespective of soil wateravailability,N supply enhanced Pn in association with an increase of Gs and Ci and a decrease of the stomatal limitation value (Ls),while Tr remained unchanged.Biomass and WUEi increased under non-limiting water conditions and medium drought,as well as WUEb under all water conditions; but under severe drought,WUEi and biomass were not affected by N application.In conclusion,increasing soil wateravailability improves photosynthetic capacity and biomass accumulation under low and high N levels,but its effects on WUE vary with soil N levels.N supply increased Pn and WUE,but under severe drought,N supply did not enhance WUEi and biomass.

The total amount of wateravailable to plants that is held against gravity in a soil is usually estimated as the amount present at -0.03 MPa average water potential minus the amount present at -1.5 MPa water potential. This value, designated availablewater-holding capacity (AWHC), is a very important soil characteristic that is strongly and positively correlated to the inherent productivity of soils. In various applications, including assessing soil moisture status over large areas, it is necessary to group soil types or series as to their productivity. Current methods to classify AWHC of soils consider only total capacity of soil profiles and thus may group together soils which differ greatly in AWHC as a function of depth in the profile. A general approach for evaluating quantitatively the multidimensional nature of AWHC in soils is described. Data for 902 soil profiles, representing 184 soil series, in Indiana were obtained from the Soil Characterization Laboratory at Purdue University. The AWHC for each of ten 150-mm layers in each soil was established, based on soil texture and parent material. A multivariate clustering procedure was used to classify each soil profile into one of 4, 8, or 12 classes based upon ten-dimensional AWHC values. The optimum number of classes depends on the range of AWHC in the population of oil profiles analyzed and on the sensitivity of a crop to differences in distribution of water within the soil profile.

The influences of climate change on water resources availability in Jinjiang Basin, China, were assessed using the Block-wise use of the TOPmodel with the Muskingum-Cunge routing method (BTOPMC) distributed hydrological model. The ensemble average of downscaled output from sixteen GCMs (General Circulation Models) for A1B emission scenario (medium CO2 emission) in the 2050s was adopted to build regional climate change scenario. The projected precipitation and temperature data were used to drive BTOPMC for predicting hydrological changes in the 2050s. Results show that evapotranspiration will increase in most time of a year. Runoff in summer to early autumn exhibits an increasing trend, while in the rest period of a year it shows a decreasing trend, especially in spring season. From the viewpoint of water resource availability, it is indicated that it has the possibility that water resources may not be sufficient to fulfill irrigation water demand in the spring season and one possible solution is to store more water in the reservoir in previous summer.

Field water capacity and availablewater concepts are major agronomic parameters widely used for irrigation management, especially in Mediterranean zones facing with shortage of water. However, their definitions are still under discussion among scientists and practitioners. Field water capacity is often determined using empirical relationships (e.g. pedotransfer functions) or from water retention points obtained in the laboratory, thus underplaying or even ignoring the important role exerted by the actual evolution of water redistribution processes in a soil profile, especially if it is a layered one. An objective and replicable method for determining the field water capacity requires monitoring a water redistribution process evolving in a soil profile thoroughly wetted by a preliminary infiltration phase. Accordingly, in this study free drainage processes in soil profiles have been simulated by applying the numerical model developed by Romano et al. (1998) and verified by Brunone et al. (2003). This model solves Richards' equation by applying the Crank-Nicolson finite difference technique and uses a numerical algorithm specifically designed in case of layered soils for calculating the hydraulic conductivity between soil layers. In addition, to ensure a good correspondence between the analyses performed and actual situations, an extensive database of uniform and layered soil profiles have been employed. Outcome from the scenarios on uniform soils have shown that soil water content values under the condition of field capacity do not match water content values obtained from water retention point measured at preselected matric pressure head. Similar results have been obtained when using retention data points retrieved from the use of well-established pedotransfer functions (such as the HYPRES-PTF). In case of layered soil profiles, which actually represent the rule rather than an exception, the layer sequence and reciprocal differences in the soil hydraulic properties

This study assessed whether availability of water for domestic use had any impact on nutritional status of children in an area where people depend on irrigation water for all their domestic water needs...

This environmetric study deals with the interpretation of river water monitoring data from the basin of the Buyuk Menderes River and its tributaries in Turkey. Eleven variables were measured to estimate water quality at 17 sampling sites. Factor analysis was applied to explain the correlations between the observations in terms of underlying factors. Results revealed that, water quality was strongly affected from agricultural uses. Cluster analysis was used to classify stations with similar properties and results distinguished three groups of stations. Water quality at downstream of the river was quite different from the other part. It is recommended to involve the environmetric data treatment as a substantial procedure in assessment of water quality data.

The Sutron Corporation, under contract with Colorado State University, has conducted a study for the Laramie Energy Technology Center (LETC) to determine the availability of water for future extraction of viscous petroleum (bitumen) from the six major tar sands deposits in Utah. Specifically, the areas are: Asphalt Ridge and Whiterocks, which lie immediately west of Vernal, Utah; P.R. Spring, a large area extending from the Colorado River to the White River along Utah's eastern border; Hill Creek, adjacent to P.R. Spring to the west; Sunnyside, immediately across the Green River from Hill Creek between the Price and Green Rivers; and Tar Sand Triangle, near the confluence of the Colorado and Dirty Devil Rivers. The study, conducted between September and December of 1978, was a fact-finding effort involving the compilation of information from publications of the US Geological Survey (USGS), Utah State Engineer, Utah Department of Natural Resources, and other federal and state agencies. The information covers the general physiographic and geologic features of the total area, the estimated water requirements for tar sands development, the availability of water in each of the six areas, and the legal and sociological restraints and impacts. The conclusions regarding wateravailability for tar sands development in each of the six areas and specific recommendations related to the development of each area are presented also.

Preliminary monitoring of faecal indicator organisms of surfacewater: A case study ... in Mvudi River used as a source of domestic water for people who live around it. ... of Water Affairs and Forestry of South Africa (DWAF) and the World Health ...

Full Text Available The change in the impervious-pervious balance has significantly altered the stream water quality, and thus the threshold of the impervious surface area in the watershed has been an active research topic for many years. The objective of this study is to verify the correlation between impervious surfaces and water quality and to determine the threshold of the percentage of the impervious surface area (PISA for diagnosing the severity of future stream water quality problems in the watershed as well as regulating the PISA in Korea. Statistical results indicated that the PISA is a suitable indicator of water quality at the watershed scale and can illustrate the water quality problems caused by the impervious surface. In addition, the results from this study suggest that controlling the PISA within about 10% in watersheds is a fundamental strategy to mitigate the degradation of water quality.

Full Text Available The French Atlantic marshlands, reclaimed since the Middle Age, have been successively used for extensive grazing and more recently for cereal cultivation from 1970. The soils have acquired specific properties which have been induced by the successive reclaiming and drainage works and by the response of the clay dominant primary sediments, that is, structure, moisture, and salinity profiles. Based on the whole survey of the Marais Poitevin and Marais de Rochefort and in order to explain the mechanisms of marsh soil behavior, the work focuses on two typical spots: an undrained grassland since at least 1964 and a drained cereal cultivated field. The structure-hydromechanical profiles relationships have been established thanks to the clay matrix shrinkage curve. They are confronted to the hydraulic functioning including the fresh-to-salt water transfers and to the recording of tensiometer profiles. The CE1/5 profiles supply the water geochemical and geophysical data by their better accuracy. Associated to the availablewater capacity calculation they allow the representation of the parallel evolution of the residual availablewater capacity profiles and salinity profiles according to the plant growing and rooting from the mesophile systems of grassland to the hygrophile systems of drained fields.

The lower Pawcatuck River basin in southwestern Rhode Island is an area of about 169 square miles underlain by crystalline bedrock over which lies a relatively thin mantle of glacial till and stratified drift. Stratified drift, consisting dominantly of sand and gravel, occurs in irregularly shaped linear deposits that are generally less than a mile wide and less than 125 feet thick; these deposits are found along the Pawcatuck River, its tributaries, and abandoned preglacial channels. Deposits of stratified sand and gravel constitute the principal aquifer in the lower Pawcatuck basin and the only one capable of sustaining yields of 100 gallons per minute or more to individual wells. Wateravailable for development in this aquifer consists of water in storage--potential ground-water runoff to streams--plus infiltration that can be induced from streams. Minimum annual ground-water runoff from the sand and gravel aquifer is calculated to be at least 1.17 cubic feet per second per square mile, or 0.76 million gallons per day per square mile. Potential recharge by induced infiltration is estimated to range from about 250 to 600 gallons per day per linear foot of streambed for the principal streams. In most areas, induced infiltration from streams constitutes the major source of water potentially available for development by wells. Because subsurface hydraulic connection in the sand and gravel aquifer is poor in several places, the deposits are conveniently divisible into several ground-water reservoirs. The potential yield from five of the most promising ground-water reservoirs is evaluated by means of mathematical models. Results indicate that continuous withdrawals ranging from 1.3 to 10.3 million gallons per day, and totaling 31 million gallons per day, are obtainable from these reservoirs. Larger yields may be recovered by different well placement, spacing, construction and development, pumping practice, and so forth. Withdrawals at the rates indicated will reduce

Water samples from precipitation, glacier melt, snow melt, glacial lake, streams and karst springs were collected across SE of Kashmir Valley, to understand the hydrogeochemical processes governing the evolution of the water in a natural and non-industrial area of western Himalayas. The time series data on solute chemistry suggest that the hydrochemical processes controlling the chemistry of spring waters is more complex than the surfacewater. This is attributed to more time available for infiltrating water to interact with the diverse host lithology. Total dissolved solids (TDS), in general, increases with decrease in altitude. However, high TDS of some streams at higher altitudes and low TDS of some springs at lower altitudes indicated contribution of high TDS waters from glacial lakes and low TDS waters from streams, respectively. The results show that some karst springs are recharged by surfacewater; Achabalnag by the Bringi stream and Andernag and Martandnag by the Liddar stream. Calcite dissolution, dedolomitization and silicate weathering were found to be the main processes controlling the chemistry of the spring waters and calcite dissolution as the dominant process in controlling the chemistry of the surfacewaters. The spring waters were undersaturated with respect to calcite and dolomite in most of the seasons except in November, which is attributed to the replenishment of the CO2 by recharging waters during most of the seasons.

In nature, birds exhibit multiple layers of superhydrophobic feathers that repel water. Inspired by bird feathers, we utilize porous superhydrophobic surfaces and compare the wetting and dewetting characteristics of a single surface to stacks of multiple surfaces. The superhydrophobic surfaces were submerged in water in a closed chamber. Pressurized gas was regulated to measure the critical pressure for the water to fully penetrate through the surfaces. In addition to using duck feathers, two-tier porous superhydrophobic surfaces were fabricated to serve as synthetic mimics with a controlled surface structure. The energy barrier for the wetting transition was modeled as a function of the number of layers and their orientations with respect to each other. Moreover, after partial impalement into a subset of the superhydrophobic layers, it was observed that a full dewetting transition was possible, which suggests that natural organisms can exploit their multiple layers to prevent irreversible wetting.

With the lowering of the EPA maximum contaminant level of arsenic from 50 parts per billion (ppb) to 10 ppb, many public water systems in the country and in New Mexico in particular, are faced with making decisions about how to bring their system into compliance. This document provides detail on the options available to the water systems and the steps they need to take to achieve compliance with this regulation. Additionally, this document provides extensive resources and reference information for additional outreach support, financing options, vendors for treatment systems, and media pilot project results.

Full Text Available Static contact angle was determined experimentally in the condition of wetting of polished and laser patterned surfaces of stainless steel substrates by distilled water drops with different volumes. In contrast with polished surface, the contact angle was found to depend on drop volume on micro patterned surfaces. In addition, the enhancement of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties was observed on laser patterned surfaces.

This computer program, SOLINS, was developed to aid engineers and solar system designers in the accurate modeling of the average hourly solar insolation on a surface of arbitrary orientation. The program can be used to study insolation problems specific to residential and commercial applications where the amount of space available for solar collectors is limited by shadowing problems, energy output requirements, and costs. For tandem rack arrays, SOLINS will accommodate the use of augmentation reflectors built into the support structure to increase insolation values at the collector surface. As the use of flat plate solar collectors becomes more prevalent in the building industry, the engineer and designer must have the capability to conduct extensive sensitivity analyses on the orientation and location of solar collectors. SOLINS should prove to be a valuable aid in this area of engineering. SOLINS uses a modified version of the National Bureau of Standards model to calculate the direct, diffuse, and reflected components of total insolation on a tilted surface with a given azimuthal orientation. The model is based on the work of Liu and Jordan with corrections by Kusuda and Ishii to account for early morning and late afternoon errors. The model uses a parametric description of the average day solar climate to generate monthly average day profiles by hour of the insolation level on the collector surface. The model includes accommodation of user specified ground and landscape reflectivities at the collector site. For roof or ground mounted, tilted arrays, SOLINS will calculate insolation including the effects of shadowing and augmentation reflectors. The user provides SOLINS with data describing the array design, array orientation, the month, the solar climate parameter, the ground reflectance, and printout control specifications. For the specified array and environmental conditions, SOLINS outputs the hourly insolation the array will receive during an average day

Full Text Available In this paper, we estimate the surfacewater retention of nitrogen (N in all the 117 drainage basins to the Baltic Sea with the use of a statistical model (MESAW for source apportionment of riverine loads of pollutants. Our results show that the MESAW model was able to estimate the N load at the river mouth of 88 Baltic Sea rivers, for which we had observed data, with a sufficient degree of precision and accuracy. The estimated retention parameters were also statistically significant. Our results show that around 380 000 t of N are annually retained in surfacewaters draining to the Baltic Sea. The total annual riverine load from the 117 basins to the Baltic Sea was estimated to 570 000 t of N, giving a total surfacewater N retention of around 40%. In terms of absolute retention values, three major river basins account for 50% of the total retention in the 117 basins; i.e. around 104 000 t of N is retained in Neva, 55 000 t in Vistula and 32 000 t in Oder. The largest retention was found in river basins with a high percentage of lakes as indicated by a strong relationship between N retention (% and share of lake area in the river drainage areas. For example in Göta älv, we estimated a total N retention of 72%, whereof 67% of the retention occurred in the lakes of that drainage area (Lake Vänern primarily. The obtained results will hopefully enable the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM to refine the nutrient load targets in the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP, as well as to better identify cost-efficient measures to reduce nutrient loadings to the Baltic Sea.

U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior — awc_UCRB_Daymet_resolution.txt is an Esri ASCII grid representing the availablewater capacity (AWC) for the Upper Colorado River Basin. AWC (availablewater...

A discriminative study of a single perfluoroalkyl (Rf) group from a bulk material is recently recognized to be necessary toward the total understanding of Rf compounds based on a primary chemical structure. The single molecule and the bulk matter have an interrelationship via an intrinsic two-dimensional (2D) aggregation property of an Rf group, which is theorized by the stratified dipole-arrays (SDA) theory. Since an Rf group has dipole moments along many C-F bonds, a single Rf group would possess a hydrophilic-like character on the surface. To reveal the hydration character of a single Rf group, in the present study, surface potential (ΔV) measurements are performed for Langmuir monolayers of Rf-containing compounds. From a comparative study with a monolayer of a normal hydrocarbon compound, the hydration/dehydration dynamics of a lying Rf group on water has first been monitored by ΔV measurements, through which a single Rf group has been revealed to have a unique "dipole-interactive" character, which enables the Rf group interacted with the water 'surface.' In addition, the SDA theory proves to be useful to predict the 2D aggregation property across the phase transition temperature of 19°C by use of the ΔV measurements.

The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority supplements the municipal water supply for the Albuquerque metropolitan area, in central New Mexico, with surfacewater diverted from the Rio Grande. The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, undertook this study in which water-chemistry data and historical streamflow were compiled and new water-chemistry data were collected to characterize the water chemistry and streamflow of the San Juan-Chama Project (SJCP). Characterization of streamflow included analysis of the variability of annual streamflow and comparison of the theoretical amount of water that could have been diverted into the SJCP to the actual amount of water that was diverted for the SJCP. Additionally, a seepage investigation was conducted along the channel between Azotea Tunnel Outlet and the streamflow-gaging station at Willow Creek above Heron Reservoir to estimate the magnitude of the gain or loss in streamflow resulting from groundwater interaction over the approximately 10-mile reach. Generally, surface-water chemistry varied with streamflow throughout the year. Streamflow ranged from high flow to low flow on the basis of the quantity of water diverted from the Rio Blanco, Little Navajo River, and Navajo River for the SJCP. Vertical profiles of the water temperature over the depth of the water column at Heron Reservoir indicated that the reservoir is seasonally stratified. The results from the seepage investigations indicated a small amount of loss of streamflow along the channel. Annual variability in streamflow for the SJCP was an indication of the variation in the climate parameters that interact to contribute to streamflow in the Rio Blanco, Little Navajo River, Navajo River, and Willow Creek watersheds. For most years, streamflow at Azotea Tunnel Outlet started in March and continued for approximately 3 months until the middle of July. The majority of annual streamflow

Human enteric viruses cause a number of diseases when individuals are exposed to contaminated drinking & recreational waters. Vaccination against poliovirus has virtually eliminated poliomyelitis from the planet. Other members of enterovirus group cause numerous diseases. Hepatit...

The IESWTR balances the need for treatment with potential increases in disinfection by -products. The materials found on this page are intended to assist public water systems and state in the implementation of the IESWTR.

Plant C and N isotope values often correlate with rainfall on global and regional scales. This study examines the relationship between plant isotopic values and rainfall in the Eastern Mediterranean region. The results indicate significant correlations between both C and N isotope values and rainfall in C(3) plant communities. This significant relationship is maintained when plant communities are divided by plant life forms. Furthermore, a seasonal increase in C isotope values is observed during the dry season while N isotope values remain stable across the wet and dry seasons. Finally, the isotopic pattern in plants originating from desert environments differs from those from Mediterranean environments because some desert plants obtain most of their water from secondary sources, namely water channeled by local topographic features rather than direct rainfall. From these results it can be concluded that wateravailability is the primary factor controlling C and N isotope variability in plant communities in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Walking on the watersurface is a dream of humans, but it is exactly the way of life for some aquatic insects. In this study, a bionic aquatic microrobot capable of walking on the watersurface like a water strider was reported. The novel water strider-like robot consisted of ten superhydrophobic supporting legs, two miniature dc motors, and two actuating legs. The microrobot could not only stand effortlessly but also walk and turn freely on the watersurface, exhibiting an interesting motion characteristic. A numerical model describing the interface between the partially submerged leg and the air-watersurface was established to fully understand the mechanism for the large supporting force of the leg. It was revealed that the radius and water contact angle of the legs significantly affect the supporting force. Because of its high speed, agility, low cost, and easy fabrication, this microrobot might have a potential application in water quality surveillance, water pollution monitoring, and so on.

In the brain, astrocytes play an essential role with their multiple functions and sophisticated structure, as surrounded by a fractal environment which has not been available in our traditional cell culture. Water-repellent fractal tripalmitin (PPP) surfaces can imitate the fractal environment in vivo, so the morphology and biochemical characterization of astrocytes on these surfaces are examined. Water-repellent fractal PPP surface can induce astrocytes to display sophisticated morphology with smaller size of cell area, longer and finer filopodium-like processes, and higher morphological complexity. The super water-repellent fractal PPP surface with water contact angle of 150°∼160° produces the maximal effects compared with other surfaces at lower water contact angles. The trends of characteristic protein expression, including that of nestin, vimentin, GFAP and glutamine synthetase, for astrocytes cultured on super water-repellent fractal PPP surfaces approximate more to in vivo pattern. The super water-repellent PPP surface also render astrocytes to perform more pronounced promotion of neurogenesis by increasing the release of nerve growth factor in a co-culture system. Altogether, our results suggest that the super water-repellent fractal PPP surface facilitates the astrocytes to mimic their in vivo performance, thus provides a closer-to-natural culture environment for experimental assessment of glial structure and functions.

Wateravailability in the semi arid United States varies seasonally, annually, and on multi-year cycles, affecting mountain forest carbon exchange directly by influencing primary production and respiration and indirectly through drought, forest fires and insect infestation. Explicitly quantifying the carbon-water relationship in mountain island ecosystems depends largely on understanding both the temporal distribution of wateravailability and the response of the vegetation to seasonal inputs. Understanding how ecosystems, particularly those which are positioned along sensitive vegetation ecotones and steep transitional climate zones, function and respond to perturbations in climatic conditions is critical to our understanding of the expected range of changes that are possible with changes to our climate. What are the possible responses in ecosystem composition, diversity and biotic feedbacks, not only to changes in the amount of precipitation, but also shifts in its' seasonal pattern, frequency distribution and intensity? Southern Arizona provides a natural laboratory with an annual bimodal precipitation pattern, steep transitional climatic zones, sensitive ecotones, with clear demarcation resulting from large elevation and precipitation gradients and high water limiting conditions with extreme climate variability. This presentation highlights the seasonal carbon-water relationship of a coniferous mountain island forest in the Santa Catalina Mountains of Southern Arizona. Hydro-micrometeorological observations from an eddy covariance flux tower made over five years encompass periods of severe multi-year drought punctuated by strong El Nino winter seasons. Distinct seasonal water use efficiency and carbon assimilation highlights the unique dynamics of this ecosystem and provide part of the fundamental reasons for the observed northward migration of semi-arid coniferous species.

In North Africa, the countries of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia are already experiencing water scarcity and a strong interannual variability of precipitation. To better manage their existing water resources, several dams and reservoirs have been built on most large river catchments. The objective of this study is to provide quantitative scenarios of future changes in wateravailability for the 47 major dams and reservoirs catchments located in North Africa. An ensemble of regional climate models (RCM) with a spatial resolution of 12km, driven by different general circulation models (GCM), from the EuroCORDEX experiment have been considered to analyze the projected changes on temperature, precipitation and potential evapotranspiration (PET) for two scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) and two time horizons (2040-2065 and 2065-2090). PET is estimated from RCM outputs either with the FAO-Penman-Monteith (PM) equation, requiring air temperature, relative humidity, net radiation and wind, or with the Hargreave Samani (HS) equation, requiring only air temperature. The water balance is analyzed by comparing the climatic demand and supply of water, considering that for most of these catchments groundwater storage is negligible over long time periods. Results indicated a future temperature increase for all catchments between +1.8° and +4.2°, depending on the emission scenario and the time period considered. Precipitation is projected to decrease between -14% to -27%, mainly in winter and spring, with a strong East to West gradient. PET computed from PM or HS formulas provided very similar estimates and projections, ranging between +7% to +18%. Changes in PET are mostly driven by rising temperatures and are greatest during dry summer months than for the wet winter season. Therefore the increased PET has a lower impact than declining precipitation on future wateravailability, which is expected to decrease by -19% to -33% on average.

Full Text Available • Climate models for the coming century predict rainfall reduction in the Amazonian region, including change in wateravailability for tropical rainforests. Here, we test the extent to which climate variables related to water regime, temperature and irradiance shape the growth trajectories of neotropical trees. • We developed a diameter growth model explicitly designed to work with asynchronous climate and growth data. Growth trajectories of 205 individual trees from 54 neotropical species censused every 2 months over a 4-year period were used to rank 9 climate variables and find the best predictive model. • About 9% of the individual variation in tree growth was imputable to the seasonal variation of climate. Relative extractable water was the main predictor and alone explained more than 60% of the climate effect on tree growth, i.e. 5.4% of the individual variation in tree growth. Furthermore, the global annual tree growth was more dependent on the diameter increment at the onset of the rain season than on the duration of dry season. • The best predictive model included 3 climate variables: relative extractable water, minimum temperature and irradiance. The root mean squared error of prediction (0.035 mm x d(-1 was slightly above the mean value of the growth (0.026 mm x d(-1. • Amongst climate variables, we highlight the predominant role of wateravailability in determining seasonal variation in tree growth of neotropical forest trees and the need to include these relationships in forest simulators to test, in silico, the impact of different climate scenarios on the future dynamics of the rainforest.

We present deep Herschel-PACS spectroscopy of far-infrared water lines from a sample of four protoplanetary disks around solar-mass stars, selected to have strong water emission at mid-infrared wavelengths. By combining the new Herschel spectra with archival Spitzer-IRS spectroscopy, we retrieve a parameterized radial surfacewater vapor distribution from 0.1-100 AU using two-dimensional dust and line radiative transfer modeling. The surfacewater distribution is modeled with a step model comprising of a constant inner and outer relative water abundance and a critical radius at which the surfacewater abundance is allowed to change. We find that the four disks have critical radii of $\\sim 3-11$ AU, at which the surfacewater abundance decreases by at least 5 orders of magnitude. The measured values for the critical radius are consistently smaller than the location of the surface snow line, as predicted by the observed spectral energy distribution. This suggests that the sharp drop-off of the surfacewater abu...

The repeated evolution of C4 photosynthesis in independent lineages has resulted in distinct biogeographical distributions in different phylogenetic lineages and the variants of C4 photosynthesis. However, most previous studies have only considered C3/C4 differences without considering phylogeny, C4 subtype, or habitat characteristics. We hypothesized that independent lineages of C4 grasses have structural and physiological traits that adapt them to environments with differing wateravailability. We measured 40 traits of 33 species from two major C4 grass lineages in a common glasshouse environment. Chloridoideae species were shorter, with narrower and longer leaves, smaller but denser stomata, and faster curling leaves than Panicoideae species, but overall differences in leaf hydraulic and gas exchange traits between the two lineages were weak. Chloridoideae species had two different ways to reach higher drought resistance potential than Panicoideae; NAD-ME species used water saving, whereas PCK species used osmotic adjustment. These patterns could be explained by the interactions of lineage×C4 subtype and lineage×habitat wateravailability in affected traits. Specifically, phylogeny tended to have a stronger influence on structural traits, and C4 subtype had more important effects on physiological traits. Although hydraulic traits did not differ consistently between lineages, they showed strong covariation and relationships with leaf structure. Thus, phylogenetic lineage, photosynthetic pathway, and adaptation to habitat wateravailability act together to influence the leaf water relations traits of C4 grasses. This work expands our understanding of ecophysiology in major C4 grass lineages, with implications for explaining their regional and global distributions in relation to climate.

The repeated evolution of C4 photosynthesis in independent lineages has resulted in distinct biogeographical distributions in different phylogenetic lineages and the variants of C4 photosynthesis. However, most previous studies have only considered C3/C4 differences without considering phylogeny, C4 subtype, or habitat characteristics. We hypothesized that independent lineages of C4 grasses have structural and physiological traits that adapt them to environments with differing wateravailability. We measured 40 traits of 33 species from two major C4 grass lineages in a common glasshouse environment. Chloridoideae species were shorter, with narrower and longer leaves, smaller but denser stomata, and faster curling leaves than Panicoideae species, but overall differences in leaf hydraulic and gas exchange traits between the two lineages were weak. Chloridoideae species had two different ways to reach higher drought resistance potential than Panicoideae; NAD-ME species used water saving, whereas PCK species used osmotic adjustment. These patterns could be explained by the interactions of lineage×C4 subtype and lineage×habitat wateravailability in affected traits. Specifically, phylogeny tended to have a stronger influence on structural traits, and C4 subtype had more important effects on physiological traits. Although hydraulic traits did not differ consistently between lineages, they showed strong covariation and relationships with leaf structure. Thus, phylogenetic lineage, photosynthetic pathway, and adaptation to habitat wateravailability act together to influence the leaf water relations traits of C4 grasses. This work expands our understanding of ecophysiology in major C4 grass lineages, with implications for explaining their regional and global distributions in relation to climate. PMID:25504656

This study investigates the effects of projected climate change on snow wateravailability in the Euphrates-Tigris basin using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) macro scale hydrologic model and a set of regional climate-change outputs from 13 global circulation models (GCMs) forced with two greenhouse gas emission scenarios for two time periods in the 21st century (2050 and 2090). The hydrologic model produces a reasonable simulation of seasonal and spatial variation in snow cover and ...

This study investigates the effects of projected climate change on snow wateravailability in the Euphrates-Tigris basin using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) macro scale hydrologic model and a set of regional climate-change outputs from 13 global circulation models (GCMs) forced with two greenhouse gas emission scenarios for two time periods in the 21st century (2050 and 2090). The hydrologic model produces a reasonable simulation of seasonal and spatial variation ...

On the San Carlos Apache Reservation in east-central Arizona, U.S.A., vegetation types such as ponderosa pine forests, pinyon-juniper woodlands, and grasslands have significant ecological, cultural, and economic value for the Tribe. This value extends beyond the tribal lands and across the Western United States. Vegetation across the Southwestern United States is susceptible to drought conditions and fluctuating wateravailability. Remotely sensed vegetation indices can be used to measure and monitor spatial and temporal vegetative response to fluctuating wateravailability conditions. We used the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)-derived Modified Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index II (MSAVI2) to measure the condition of three dominant vegetation types (ponderosa pine forest, woodland, and grassland) in response to two fluctuating environmental variables: precipitation and the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). The study period covered 2002 through 2014 and focused on a region within the San Carlos Apache Reservation. We determined that grassland and woodland had a similar moderate to strong, year-round, positive relationship with precipitation as well as with summer SPEI. This suggests that these vegetation types respond negatively to drought conditions and are more susceptible to initial precipitation deficits. Ponderosa pine forest had a comparatively weaker relationship with monthly precipitation and summer SPEI, indicating that it is more buffered against short-term drought conditions. This research highlights the response of multiple, dominant vegetation types to seasonal and inter-annual wateravailability. This research demonstrates that multi-temporal remote sensing imagery can be an effective tool for the large scale detection of vegetation response to adverse impacts from climate change and support potential management practices such as increased monitoring and management of drought-affected areas. Different

Full Text Available In recent decades, mean global temperatures have increased in parallel with a sharp rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2 levels, with apparent implications for precipitation patterns. The aim of the present work is to assess the sensitivity of different phenological stages of grapevine to temperature and to study the influence of other factors related to climate change (wateravailability and CO2 concentration on this relationship. Grapevine phenological records from 9 plantings between 42.75°N and 46.03°N consisting of dates for budburst, flowering and fruit maturity were used. In addition, we used phenological data collected from two years of experiments with grapevine fruit-bearing cuttings with two grapevine varieties under two levels of wateravailability, two temperature regimes and two levels of CO2. Dormancy breaking and flowering were strongly dependent on spring temperature, while neither variation in temperature during the chilling period nor precipitation significantly affected budburst date. The time needed to reach fruit maturity diminished with increasing temperature and decreasing precipitation. Experiments under semi-controlled conditions revealed great sensitivity of berry development to both temperature and CO2. Wateravailability had significant interactions with both temperature and CO2; however, in general, water deficit delayed maturity when combined with other factors. Sensitivities to temperature and CO2 varied widely, but higher sensitivities appeared in the coolest year, particularly for the late ripening variety, ‘White Tempranillo’. The knowledge gained in whole plant physiology and multi stress approaches is crucial to predict the effects of climate change and to design mitigation and adaptation strategies allowing viticulture to cope with climate change.

Full Text Available To reduce the size and cost of an integrated infrared (IR and green airborne LiDAR bathymetry (ALB system, and improve the accuracy of the green ALB system, this study proposes a method to accurately determine watersurface and water bottom heights using a single green laser corrected by the near watersurface penetration (NWSP model. The factors that influence the NWSP of green laser are likewise analyzed. In addition, an NWSP modeling method is proposed to determine the relationship between NWSP and the suspended sediment concentration (SSC of the surface layer, scanning angle of a laser beam and sensor height. The watersurface and water bottom height models are deduced by considering NWSP and using only green laser based on the measurement principle of the IR laser and green laser, as well as employing the relationship between NWSP and the time delay of the surface return of the green laser. Lastly, these methods and models are applied to a practical ALB measurement. Standard deviations of 3.0, 5.3, and 1.3 cm are obtained by the NWSP, water-surface height, and water-bottom height models, respectively. Several beneficial conclusions and recommendations are drawn through the experiments and discussions.

Changes in population, agricultural development practices (including shifts to more water-intensive crops), and climate variability are placing increasingly larger demands on availablewater resources, particularly groundwater, in the Cuyama Valley, one of the most productive agricultural regions in Santa Barbara County. The goal of this study was to produce a model capable of being accurate at scales relevant to water management decisions that could be considered in the evaluation of the sustainable water supply. The Cuyama Valley Hydrologic Model (CUVHM) was designed to simulate the most important natural and human components of the hydrologic system, including components dependent on variations in climate, thereby providing a reliable assessment of groundwater conditions and processes that can inform water users and help to improve planning for future conditions. Model development included a revision of the conceptual model of the flow system, construction of a precipitation-runoff model using the Basin Characterization Model (BCM), and construction of an integrated hydrologic flow model with MODFLOW-One-Water Hydrologic Flow Model (MF-OWHM). The hydrologic models were calibrated to historical conditions of water and land use and, then, used to assess the use and movement of water throughout the Valley. These tools provide a means to understand the evolution of water use in the Valley, its availability, and the limits of sustainability. The conceptual model identified inflows and outflows that include the movement and use of water in both natural and anthropogenic systems. The groundwater flow system is characterized by a layered geologic sedimentary sequence that—in combination with the effects of groundwater pumping, natural recharge, and the application of irrigation water at the land surface—displays vertical hydraulic-head gradients. Overall, most of the agricultural demand for water in the Cuyama Valley in the initial part of the growing season is

Wateravailability can be considered as one of the main restrictions for future development in South-Central Chile, due to the reported decreasing trends in precipitation in the last decades and the increasing demand for this resource. This issue makes the study of past wateravailability fundamental for the understanding of present and future variations. This paper presents a comparison of two wateravailability reconstructions within the Valdivian rainforest ecoregion (35{sup 0}-48{sup 0}S), one corresponding to a precipitation (37{sup 0}-39.5{sup 0} S) and the other to a streamflow reconstruction (41{sup 0} S). This study shows that there are fundamental differences between them especially in the long term variability. However, there are also coincidences, mainly at higher frequency variations, such as at a bidecadal, decadal and annual scale. Another important finding is that these reconstructions show significant correlations with different climatic forcings in this area. The northern reconstruction presents a significant relationship with ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation), while the southern does the same with the AAO (Antarctic Oscillation Index).

ABSTRACT Coverless petri dishes with water suspensions of sporangia and zoospores of Phytophthora infestans were embedded in sandy soil in eastern Washington in July and October 2001 and July 2002 to quantify longevity of spores in water under natural conditions. Effects of solar radiation intensity, presence of soil in petri dishes (15 g per dish), and a 2-h chill period on survival of isolates of clonal lineages US-8 and US-11 were investigated. Spores in water suspensions survived 0 to 16 days under nonshaded conditions and 2 to 20 days under shaded conditions. Mean spore survival significantly increased from 1.7 to 5.8 days when soil was added to the water. Maximum survival time of spores in water without soil exposed to direct sunlight was 2 to 3 days in July and 6 to 8 days in October. Mean duration of survival did not differ significantly between chilled and nonchilled sporangia, but significantly fewer chilled spores survived for extended periods than that of nonchilled spores. Spores of US-11 and US-8 isolates did not differ in mean duration of survival, but significantly greater numbers of sporangia of US-8 survived than did sporangia of US-11 in one of three trials.

Surfacewater provides 5 billion gallons per day, or 78 percent, of the total freshwater used (including thermoelectric) in Georgia (Fanning, 2003). Climate, geology, and landforms control the natural distribution of Georgia's water resources. Georgia is a 'headwaters' State, with most of the rivers beginning in northern Georgia and increasing in size downstream (see map at right for major watersheds). Surfacewater is the primary source of water in the northern one-half of the State, including the Atlanta metropolitan area, where limited ground-water resources are difficult to obtain. In Georgia, periodic droughts exacerbate competition for surface-water supplies. Many areas of Georgia also face a threat of flooding because of spring frontal thunderstorms and the potential for hurricanes from both the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. As the population of Georgia increases, these flood risks will increase with development in flood-risk zones, particularly in the coastal region.

Full Text Available Abstract Background Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum consumption has been one of the most common causes of produce-associated salmonellosis in the United States. Contamination may originate from animal waste, insects, soil or water. Current guidelines for fresh tomato production recommend the use of potable water for applications coming in direct contact with the fruit, but due to high demand, water from other sources is frequently used. We sought to describe the overall bacterial diversity on the surface of tomato fruit and the effect of two different water sources (ground and surfacewater when used for direct crop applications by generating a 454-pyrosequencing 16S rRNA dataset of these different environments. This study represents the first in depth characterization of bacterial communities in the tomato fruit surface and the water sources commonly used in commercial vegetable production. Results The two water sources tested had a significantly different bacterial composition. Proteobacteria was predominant in groundwater samples, whereas in the significantly more diverse surfacewater, abundant phyla also included Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Verrucomicrobia. The fruit surface bacterial communities on tomatoes sprayed with both water sources could not be differentiated using various statistical methods. Both fruit surface environments had a high representation of Gammaproteobacteria, and within this class the genera Pantoea and Enterobacter were the most abundant. Conclusions Despite the major differences observed in the bacterial composition of ground and surfacewater, the season long use of these very different water sources did not have a significant impact on the bacterial composition of the tomato fruit surface. This study has provided the first next-generation sequencing database describing the bacterial communities living in the fruit surface of a tomato crop under two different spray water regimes, and therefore represents an

Full Text Available Intermolecular chemical networks defined by the hydrogen bonds formed at the α-quartz|water interface have been data-mined using graph theoretical methods so as to identify and quantify structural patterns and dynamic behavior. Using molecular-dynamics simulations data, the hydrogen bond (H-bond distributions for the water-water and water-silanol H-bond networks have been determined followed by the calculation of the persistence of the H-bond, the dipole-angle oscillations that water makes with the surface silanol groups over time, and the contiguous H-bonded chains formed at the interface. Changes in these properties have been monitored as a function of surface coverage. Using the H-bond distribution between water and the surface silanol groups, the actual number of waters adsorbed to the surface is found to be 0.6 H2O/10 Å2, irrespective of the total concentration of waters within the system. The unbroken H-bond network of interfacial waters extends farther than in the bulk liquid; however, it is more fluxional at low surface coverages (i.e., the H-bond persistence in a monolayer of water is shorter than in the bulk Concentrations of H2O at previously determined water adsorption sites have also been quantified. This work demonstrates the complementary information that can be obtained through graph theoretical analysis of the intermolecular H-bond networks relative to standard analyses of molecular simulation data.

Surface reactions occurring at solid-water interfaces in calcium mineral-ligands systems have been studied. Both hydrous apatite and fluorite surfaces show clear amphoteric properties. An ion exchange process between lattice ions of F- on fluorite and OH- ions in bulk solution is discovered. The surface adsorption of Alizarin Red S and sodium oleate are determined. Surface chemical reaction models are established based on acidbase potentiometric titrations, solubility, adsorption and zeta-pot...

Molecular dynamics simulations were performed to study the surface properties of water in a temperature range from 228 to 293 K by using the extended simple point charge (SPC/E) and four-site TIP4P potentials. The calculated surface tension increases with the decrease of temperature, and moreover the slopes of the surface tension-temperature curves show a weak rise below 273 K, whereas no obvious anomalies appear near 228 K, which accords with the previous experiments. Compared with the measured values, the SPC/E potential shows a good agreement, and the TIP4P potential scription of the surface structure of supercooled water for the SPC/E. When simulating the orientational distributions of water molecules near the surface, the SPC/E potential produces higher ordering and larger surface potentials than the TIP4P potential.

Can one send a wave to bring an object from a distance? The general idea is inspired by the recent success in moving micro particles using light and the development of a tractor beam concept. For fluid surfaces, however, the only known paradigm is the Stokes drift model, where linear planar waves push particles in the direction of the wave propagation. Here we show how to fetch a macroscopic floater from a large distance by sending a surface wave towards it. We develop a new method of remote manipulation of floaters by forming inward and outward surface jets, stationary vortices, and other complex surface flows using nonlinear waves generated by a vertically oscillating plunger. The flows can be engineered by changing the geometry and the power of a wave maker, and the flow dissipation. The new method is robust and works both for long gravity and for short capillary waves. We use a novel method of visualising 3D particle trajectories on the surface. This letter introduces a new conceptual framework for unders...

vertical walls are made of transparent sections of glass supported by the metal frame. The water level of the free surface is measured with seven resistive...Experimental observation of dark solitons on watersurface A. Chabchoub1,∗, O. Kimmoun2, H. Branger3, N. Hoffmann1, D. Proment4, M. Onorato4,5, and N...observation of dark solitons on the watersurface. It takes the form of an amplitude drop of the carrier wave which does not change shape in propagation

Full Text Available Background: The nutritional therapy with enteral diets has been getting specialized and those formulations to substitute the traditional diet for those patients who need to be fed by probe. This workís aim was to study the effect of the components of enteral diet formulation: fiber, calcium and medium-chain triglycerides, seeking optimize a formulation for the best dialysability of iron by Response Surface Methodology (RSM. Methods: The ingredients used for the formulations of the diet were chosen according to the ones commercialized in the modules of a standard enteral diet, with which it was made an experimental diet and the applicability of the experimental limits. Results: The found results in the model have shown that it depends on the proportion of the nutrients that were manipulated in the experimental design. When the level curve was obtained for the iron dialysable, it could be verified that the binary interaction fiber-calcium was the one that presented more synergism for the appraised formulation. Before the analyzed facts, the best formulation of enteral diet optimized for the dialysability of the iron was the proportion of 60% of fiber and 40% of calcium, showing to be the best formulation of the enteral diet for the availability of the iron.

Groundwater/surface-water interaction is receiving increasing focus in Africa due to its importance to ecologic systems and sustainability. South Africa’s 1998 National Water Act (NWA) recognized water as a basic human right and its importance for ecological sustainability. Ecological integrity of water resources was considered an important component in redressing past social inequities, eliminating poverty, and encouraging economic development. Under the NWA, groundwater-use licenses are granted only after setting aside the groundwater Reserve, the amount of water needed to supply basic human needs and preserve a minimum degree of ecological integrity. One challenge to successful implementation of the NWA, therefore, is the accurate quantification of groundwater contributions to aquatic ecosystems. This is especially true considering that so many of South Africa’s aquifers are in highly heterogeneous and anisotropic fractured-rock settings. The most common approach taken in South Africa is estimation of average annual flux rates at the regional scale of quaternary catchments with baseflow separation techniques and then applying a water-budget approach, subtracting the groundwater discharge rate from the recharge rate. The water-balance approach might be a good first step, but it ignores spatial and temporal variability, potentially missing the local impacts associated with placement of production boreholes. Identification of discrete areas of groundwater discharge could be achieved with stable-isotopic and geochemical analyses and vegetative mapping. Groundwater-flow modeling should be used where possible as it holistically incorporates available data and can predict impacts of groundwater extraction and development based on the relative positions of boreholes and surface-water bodies. Sustainable development entails recognition of the trade-offs between preservation and development. There will always be scientific uncertainty associated with estimation and

Changes in atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition due to increased urbanization and precipitation due to climate change are likely to affect carbon (C) allocation in plants and soils in arid ecosystems in the Southwestern United States where net primary production is often limited by N and wateravailability. We conducted a greenhouse study to determine the effects of N and wateravailability on one year old creosote (Larrea tridentata) plants, the dominant shrub in the Mojave Desert. In our greenhouse study we employed two N levels (0 and 40 kg ha-1) and two soil moisture levels (7% and 15%). We grew creosote seedlings in PVC columns filled with topsoil from the Mojave Global Change Facility at the Nevada Test Site. The columns were covered and sealed at the base of the plant to separate the above- from belowground plant compartment. Plants were distributed over two growth chambers receiving ambient light while day/night temperatures were set at 25° C/15° C. In one chamber plants were labeled once a week with 13C-enriched CO2 while a second chamber acted as an unlabeled control. Throughout the six month study we measured soil CO2 concentrations, respired CO2 as well as their isotopic signatures. At the end of the study plants were harvested and we measured plant above- and belowground biomass and isotopic composition of the vegetation. In addition, we measured isotopic composition of soil organic and inorganic C. Increased N availability stimulated stem weight and decreased total C losses through soil respiration. Other plant and soil parameters including isotopic composition were not affected by changes in N availability. Increased soil moisture stimulated plant biomass mainly due to an increase in leaf weight while root biomass tended to decrease. Soil CO2 concentrations increased with increasing wateravailability despite a reduction in root biomass. The isotopic data showed that net new C uptake increased mostly in leaves, soil organic matter and soil

The importance of the unsaturated zone as an inextricable part of the hydrologic cycle has long been recognized. The root zone and the unsaturated sub-surface domain are chemically and biologically the most active zones. The interrelationships between soil, subsoil and surfacewaters make it unrealistic to treat the saturated and unsaturated zones and the discharge to surfacewaters separately. Point models describe vertical water flow in the saturated zone and possibly lateral flow by defini...

The population of the Nile catchment is presently 250 Million and will probably reach 400 Million in 2040. The catchment includes two parts of about same population but with a very different climate. - The upstream rainy part (most of this area is in Ethiopia, Uganda and South Sudan). - The downstream dry part i.e North Sudan and Egypt. The availablewater from the Nile runoff is evaluated as average as 72 Billion m{sup 3} /year; it is quite totally coming from the upstream part and used in the downstream part. For their development the upstream populations (including also part of Tanzania, Kenya, Congo, Rwanda and Burundi) are now requiring a significant share of the run off generated from local rains when Egypt and North Sudan claim historic rights on the Nile Waters. The best way to avoid conflicts is to increase the wateravailability for keeping in Egypt and North Sudan at least the water volume presently used and to allow to upstream countries the water resources necessary for their development, possibly in the range of 100 m{sup 3} / year / capita in 2030 or 2040. The average total runoff of the Nile is in fact close to 140 Billion m{sup 3} / year but over 40 Billion evaporate in the South Sudan Swamps and 15 Billion in the reservoirs of Aswan and Northern Sudan. A solution for reducing by half these two main losses is presented in this paper: it is based upon a concrete knowledge of the local very specific data and upon a successful experience of adapted technical solutions

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, designed and operates a series of monitoring stations on streams and springs throughout Missouri known as the Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network. During the 2012 water year (October 1, 2011, through September 30, 2012), data were collected at 81 stations—73 Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network stations, 6 alternate Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network stations, and 2 U.S. Geological Survey National Stream Quality Accounting Network stations. Dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, water temperature, suspended solids, suspended sediment, fecal coliform bacteria, Escherichia coli bacteria, dissolved nitrate plus nitrite as nitrogen, total phosphorus, dissolved and total recoverable lead and zinc, and select pesticide compound summaries are presented for 78 of these stations. The stations primarily have been classified into groups corresponding to the physiography of the State, primary land use, or unique station types. In addition, a summary of hydrologic conditions in the State including peak discharges, monthly mean discharges, and 7-day low flow is presented.

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, designed and operates a series of monitoring stations on streams and springs throughout Missouri known as the Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network. During the 2013 water year (October 1, 2012, through September 30, 2013), data were collected at 79 stations—73 Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network stations, 4 alternate Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network stations, and 2 U.S. Geological Survey National Stream Quality Accounting Network stations. Dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, water temperature, suspended solids, suspended sediment, Escherichia coli bacteria, fecal coliform bacteria, dissolved nitrate plus nitrite as nitrogen, total phosphorus, dissolved and total recoverable lead and zinc, and select pesticide compound summaries are presented for 76 of these stations. The stations primarily have been classified into groups corresponding to the physiography of the State, primary land use, or unique station types. In addition, a summary of hydrologic conditions in the State including peak discharges, monthly mean discharges, and 7-day low flow is presented.

To sustain growing food demand and increasing standard of living, global water withdrawal and consumptive water use have been increasing rapidly. To analyze the human perturbation on water resources consistently over large scales, a number of macro-scale hydrological models (MHMs) have been developed in recent decades. However, few models consider the interaction between terrestrial water fluxes, and human activities and associated water use, and even fewer models distinguish water use from surfacewater and groundwater resources. Here, we couple a global water demand model with a global hydrological model and dynamically simulate daily water withdrawal and consumptive water use over the period 1979-2010, using two re-analysis products: ERA-Interim and MERRA. We explicitly take into account the mutual feedback between supply and demand, and implement a newly developed water allocation scheme to distinguish surfacewater and groundwater use. Moreover, we include a new irrigation scheme, which works dynamically with a daily surface and soil water balance, and incorporate the newly available extensive global reservoir data set (GRanD). Simulated surfacewater and groundwater withdrawals generally show good agreement with reported national and sub-national statistics. The results show a consistent increase in both surfacewater and groundwater use worldwide, with a more rapid increase in groundwater use since the 1990s. Human impacts on terrestrial water storage (TWS) signals are evident, altering the seasonal and inter-annual variability. This alteration is particularly large over heavily regulated basins such as the Colorado and the Columbia, and over the major irrigated basins such as the Mississippi, the Indus, and the Ganges. Including human water use and associated reservoir operations generally improves the correlation of simulated TWS anomalies with those of the GRACE observations.

Full Text Available Regional climate models provided precipitation and temperature time series for control (1961–1990 and scenario (2071–2100 periods. At southern Portu gal, the climate models in the control period systematically present higher temp eratures and lower precipitation than the observations. Therefore, the direct inpu t of climate model data into hydrological models might result in more severe scenarios for future wateravailability. Three bias correction methods (Delta Change, Dire ct Forcing and Hybrid are analysed and their performances in wateravailability impac t studies are assessed. The Delta Change method assumes that the observed series variab ility is maintained in the scenario period and is corrected by the evolution predicted by the climate models. The Direct Forcing method maintains the scenario series variabi lity, which is corrected by the bias found in the control period, and the Hybrid method maintains the control model series variability, which is corrected by the bias found in the control period and by the evolution predicted by the climate models. To assess the climate impacts in the water resources expected for the scenario period, a physically based spatially distributed hydrological model, SHETRAN, is used for runoff pro jections in a southern Portugal basin. The annual and seasonal runoff shows a runoff d ecrease in the scenario period, increasing the water shor tage that is already experienc ed. The overall annual reduction varies between –80% and –35%. In general, the results show that the runoff reductions obtained with climate models corrected with the Delt a Change method are highest but with a narrow range that varies between –80% and –5 2%.

Full Text Available Background: In May 2012, there were increasing diarrhoea cases and deaths reported from Nabua, Camarines Sur to the Philippines event-based surveillance system. An investigation was conducted to identify risk factors and determine transmission dynamics. Methods: A suspected case was defined as a resident of Nabua with at least three episodes of watery diarrhoea per day from 16 March to 22 June 2012. A confirmed case was defined as a suspected case positive for Vibrio cholerae. An environmental investigation was conducted and rectal swabs and water samples sent to the national reference laboratory for bacterial isolation. A 1:2 case-control study matching for age and sex was conducted. Data were analyzed using Epi Info. Results: There were 309 suspected cases with two deaths, and the most affected age group was children under five years (45%. Eight cases were positive for Vibrio cholerae Ogawa El Tor and one for Non-01. Water samples were positive for faecal coliforms and Aeromonas caviae. The case-control study showed that cases had a higher odds than controls of using unchlorinated water sources (odds ratio [OR] = 3.6; 95% confidence interval [CI]:1.6–8.5 and having toilets located within 20 metres of a septic tank (OR = 2.7; 95% CI: 1.4–5.3. In multivariate analysis, the only significant factor was drinking from piped water (OR = 0.21; 95% CI: 0.09–0.49. Discussion: In this cholera outbreak, drinking-water from unchlorinated wells was a significant risk factor. Future cholera control efforts should include not just improving water and sanitation systems but also intensified behaviour change campaigns.

To assess the effects of UV radiation and its interaction with wateravailability on Mediterranean plants, we performed an experiment with seedlings of six Mediterranean species (three mesophytes vs three xerophytes) grown in a glasshouse from May to October under three UV conditions (without UV, with UVA and with UVA+UVB) and two irrigation levels (watered to saturation and low watered). Morphological, physiological and biochemical measures were taken. Exposure to UVA+UVB increased the overall leaf mass per area (LMA) and the leaf carotenoids/chlorophyll a + b ratio of plants in relation to plants grown without UV or with UVA, respectively. In contrast, we did not find a general effect of UV on the leaf content of phenols or UVB-absorbing compounds of the studied species. Regarding plant growth, UV inhibited the above-ground biomass production of well-watered plants of Pistacia lentiscus. Conversely, under low irrigation, UVA tended to abolish the reduction in growth experienced by P. lentiscus plants growing in a UV-free environment, in accordance with UVA-enhanced apparent electron transport rate (ETR) values under drought in this species. UVA also induced an overall increase in root biomass when plants of the studied species were grown under a low water supply. In conclusion, while plant exposition to UVA favored root growth under water shortage, UVB addition only gave rise to photoprotective responses, such as the increase in LMA or in the leaf carotenoids/chlorophyll a + b ratio of plants. Species-specific responses to UV were not related with the xerophytic or mesophytic character of the studied species.

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) data provides direct measurements of temporal mass variations; the latter is largely controlled by variations in water volumes in various reservoirs such as surfacewater (e.g., lakes and streams), groundwater (e.g., shallow and deep aquifers) and in the soil profile. Climatic changes impact the amounts of precipitation and its partitioning into each of these reservoirs. We explored the use of GRACE data for monitoring climate change-induced variations in wateravailability in the African continent over a period of nine years and used the identified trends to predict water storage availability across the continent over the next decade. Monthly GRACE gravity field solutions (Center of Space Research [CSR] RL04) in form of Spherical Harmonic Coefficients (SHC's) that span the period from April 2002 through November 2010 were processed (temporal mean was removed, de-striped, smoothed [250 km; Gaussian], and converted to 0.5 x 0.5 deg. equivalent water thicknesses). Several relevant GRACE bi-products (e.g., standard deviation, annual trend) were generated over time periods of six, seven, eight, and nine years and compared (in a GIS environment) with relevant co-registered data sets and derived products (e.g., precipitation, topography, geology, VNIR Landsat, NDVI, stream network distribution, water bodies distribution, watershed boundaries, and Community Climate System Model [CCSM-3] products). Spatial correlations of the co-registered data sets revealed the following: (1) persistent and increasingly pronounced linear annual trends (+ve: increasing mass; -ve: decreasing mass) over periods of six to nine years with the most pronounced trends detected over domains of high signal to noise ratios; (2) +ve trends over the source areas for the Blue Nile basin (4.2 mm/yr) and over the source areas of the Congo basin (7 mm/yr) and over the Zambezi basin (24 mm/yr), whereas -ve trends were detected over Central Africa (-7 mm

A study of the effects of electron bombardment on water adsorbed on Zr(0001) is reported. Zirconium surfaces are dosed with isotopic water mixtures at 160 K followed by electron bombardment (485 eV). The system is then probed by low energy electron diffraction, temperature programmed desorption (TPD) and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES). No evidence is found that would indicate preferential mixing of hydrogen from the bulk with isotopic water dissociation products during TPD. However, electron bombardment results in the sharpening of a hydrogen/deuterium desorption peak near 320 K and the production of water near 730 K at low water exposures. In addition, although water does not oxidize Zr(0001) thermally, electron bombardment of adsorbed water induces a shift of about 2 eV in the Zr AES features indicating that the surface is partially oxidized by electron bombardment.

The conventional geothermal electrical generation capacity potential in the United States is estimated to be as high as 90 GW (USGS, 2008). If Enhanced Geothermal Systems (EGS) are included, the estimated capacity soars beyond 800 GW. Current generation capacity in the U.S. is approximately 1,000 GW. With a capacity factor close to 0.9, these numbers suggest that geothermal energy has the potential to be the primary provider of electrical energy in the United States. Realizing that potential is important, since geothermal energy is renewable, has low to no emissions, involves no fuel cycle, has one of the lowest spatial footprints per MW, has one of the lowest levelized costs of energy and the highest energy returned on energy invested values. However, access to water is an important prerequisite for geothermal power generation. It is required in drilling, heat transfer and power production. For EGS applications, water is also needed for stimulation. Much of the water currently utilized in these geothermal applications is groundwater. The impact of climate change on geothermal power generation will be expressed primarily through wateravailability. The details of potential water change impacts on power generation in existing and future geothermal sites will be presented in three case studies. It will be shown that strategies for mitigating groundwater losses are available, and include: use of degraded water in geothermal systems; use of captured CO2 for heat transfer; expanded use of dry cooling; improved resolution of subsurface permeability mapping; improved efficiencies in power generation; and expanded access to high enthalpy resources. Achieving these benefits will require aggressive research programs. Developing model hybrid technologies that combine geothermal-solar-biomass-wind-small hydro should be part of this research effort. Coupling geothermal resource exploration and mapping with detailed analysis of groundwater resources (recharge sites; climate

Full Text Available We have investigated the structural and electronic properties of water molecule adsorbed silicon dioxide (α-SiO2 [110] surface and analyzed the influence of water molecule on its energetics, structure and elctronic propertes using density functional theory based first principles calculations. The inhomogeneous topology of the α-SiO2 clean surface promotes a total charge density displacement on the adsorbed water molecule and giving rise to electron-rich as well as hole-rich region. The electronic charge transfer from a α-SiO2 to the water molecule occurs upon the formation of a partially occupied level laying above conduction band level.

Full Text Available Background: Consumption of bottled waters has received popularity and more acceptances. Fluoride is necessary for human life. But high levels of fluoride can cause some problems for human health such as Fluorosis and teeth and bones problems. The aim of this study is measure the fluoride content in bottled waters consumed in North West of Iran and comparison with the amount listed on their labels and with the drinking water standards. Methods: In this study, 10 brands of bottled water were sampled from markets over the two seasons randomly. Samples were analyzed for fluoride using Ion Chromatography (IC method. Results: Results showed that fluoride concentration in different brands had a significant difference (P <0.05. The concentration of fluoride in samples ranged between 0.04 and 0.32 mg/L. Among analyzed selected brands four brands were observed significant differences with the measured values. Conclusion: Totally the measured values didn’t match with the values declared on the labels (Reliability coefficient <0. It was revealed that fluoride concentration in all brands was less than the lower range of Iranian national standard (0.7-1.2 mg/lit.

Water treatment residuals (WTRs) are produced by the treatment of potable water with coagulating agents. Beneficial recycling in agriculture is hampered by the fact that WTRs contain potentially toxic contaminants (e.g. copper and aluminium) and they bind phosphorus strongly. These issues were investigated using a plant bioassay (Lactuca sativa), chemical extractions and an isotopic dilution technique. Two WTRs were applied to an acidic and a neutral pH soil at six rates. Reductions in plant growth in amended soils were due to WTR-induced P deficiency, rather than Al or Cu toxicity. The release of potentially toxic Al from WTRs was found to be mitigated by their alkaline nature and pH buffering capacity. However, acidification of WTRs was shown to release more soluble Al than soil naturally high in Al. Copper availability was relatively low in all treatments. However, the lability of WTR-Cu increased when the WTR was applied to the soil. - The effect of water treatment residue application to soil was investigated in relation to phosphorus availability, and copper and aluminium phytotoxicity.

The consequences of elevated CO{sub 2} on the interactions in maple and poplar seedlings and associated insects and the influence of the availability of other plant resources, such as water, were studied. Seedlings were grown under ambient or elevated CO{sub 2} concentrations and under well-watered and drought conditions. Rates of gas exchange were measured and the foliage was subjected to phytochemical analysis. Larval performance on the foliage were quantified. Elevated CO{sub 2} was found to increase the rate photosynthesis, but had no effect on stomatal conductance. Drought conditions reduced both parameters. Under elevated CO{sub 2} concentration foliar nitrogen levels declined and secondary metabolite concentrations increased, however, starch and sugar levels were unaffected. Under drought conditions all phytochemicals, except simple sugars, declined and forest caterpillar growth was reduced, although the reduction differed from species to species. The general conclusion was that the availability of water will affect response to CO{sub 2} concentrations and the direction and magnitude of the responses will be species-specific. Host use by herbivorous insects will also be affected. 53 refs., 5 figs.

Full Text Available The MBT/CBT has recently gained significant attention as a novel paleotemperature proxy. It is based on the distribution of branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs in soils. The CBT quantifies the degree of cyclisation and relates to soil pH. The MBT' quantifies the degree of methylation and relates to mean annual temperature and soil pH. Combining these two indices allows estimation of mean annual temperature (MAT. However other factors such as soil wateravailability or moisture conditions have been suggested to influence the MBT'. To assess the effect of moisture conditions on the MBT'/CBT a set of 23 Iberian Peninsula soil samples covering a temperature range from 10–18 °C and a wide range of soil moisture regimes (405 mm to 1455 mm mean annual precipitation per year, was analyzed. We find that CBT is significantly correlated to soil pH confirming it as a robust proxy. In contrast the MBT' index was not correlated to MAT and was weakly correlated to annual mean precipitation (MAP. Instead we found a significant correlation between MBT' and the Aridity Index (AI, a parameter related to wateravailability in soils. The AI can explain 70% of the residuals of MAT estimation and 50% of the actual variation of the MBT'. This suggests that in dry environments or under moisture shortage the degree of methylation of branched GDGTs is not controlled by temperature but rather by the degree of wateravailable. Our results suggest that the MBT/CBT index is not applicable as a paleotemperature proxy in dry subhumid to hyperarid environments.

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, designed and operates a series of monitoring stations on streams and springs throughout Missouri known as the Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network. During the 2014 water year (October 1, 2013, through September 30, 2014), data were collected at 74 stations—72 Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network stations and 2 U.S. Geological Survey National Stream Quality Assessment Network stations. Dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, water temperature, suspended solids, suspended sediment, Escherichia coli bacteria, fecal coliform bacteria, dissolved nitrate plus nitrite as nitrogen, total phosphorus, dissolved and total recoverable lead and zinc, and select pesticide compound summaries are presented for 71 of these stations. The stations primarily have been classified into groups corresponding to the physiography of the State, primary land use, or unique station types. In addition, a summary of hydrologic conditions in the State including peak discharges, monthly mean discharges, and 7-day low flow is presented.

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, designs and operates a series of monitoring stations on streams throughout Missouri known as the Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network. During the 2010 water year (October 1, 2009 through September 30, 2010), data were collected at 75 stations-72 Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network stations, 2 U.S. Geological Survey National Stream Quality Accounting Network stations, and 1 spring sampled in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service. Dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, water temperature, suspended solids, suspended sediment, fecal coliform bacteria, Escherichia coli bacteria, dissolved nitrate plus nitrite, total phosphorus, dissolved and total recoverable lead and zinc, and select pesticide compound summaries are presented for 72 of these stations. The stations primarily have been classified into groups corresponding to the physiography of the State, primary land use, or unique station types. In addition, a summary of hydrologic conditions in the State including peak discharges, monthly mean discharges, and 7-day low flow is presented.

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, designs and operates a series of monitoring stations on streams throughout Missouri known as the Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network. During the 2009 water year (October 1, 2008, through September 30, 2009), data were collected at 75 stations-69 Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network stations, 2 U.S. Geological Survey National Stream Quality Accounting Network stations, 1 spring sampled in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service, and 3 stations sampled in cooperation with the Elk River Watershed Improvement Association. Dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, water temperature, suspended solids, suspended sediment, fecal coliform bacteria, Escherichia coli bacteria, dissolved nitrate plus nitrite, total phosphorus, dissolved and total recoverable lead and zinc, and select pesticide compound summaries are presented for 72 of these stations. The stations primarily have been classified into groups corresponding to the physiography of the State, primary land use, or unique station types. In addition, a summary of hydrologic conditions in the State including peak discharges, monthly mean discharges, and seven-day low flow is presented.

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, designed and operates a series of monitoring stations on streams throughout Missouri known as the Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network. During the 2011 water year (October 1, 2010, through September 30, 2011), data were collected at 75 stations—72 Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network stations, 2 U.S. Geological Survey National Stream Quality Accounting Network stations, and 1 spring sampled in cooperation with the U.S. Forest Service. Dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, water temperature, suspended solids, suspended sediment, fecal coliform bacteria, Escherichia coli bacteria, dissolved nitrate plus nitrite, total phosphorus, dissolved and total recoverable lead and zinc, and select pesticide compound summaries are presented for 72 of these stations. The stations primarily have been classified into groups corresponding to the physiography of the State, primary land use, or unique station types. In addition, a summary of hydrologic conditions in the State including peak discharges, monthly mean discharges, and 7-day low flow is presented.

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, designed and operates a series of monitoring stations on streams and springs throughout Missouri known as the Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network. During water year 2015 (October 1, 2014, through September 30, 2015), data were collected at 74 stations—72 Ambient Water-Quality Monitoring Network stations and 2 U.S. Geological Survey National Stream Quality Assessment Network stations. Dissolved oxygen, specific conductance, water temperature, suspended solids, suspended sediment, Escherichia coli bacteria, fecal coliform bacteria, dissolved nitrate plus nitrite as nitrogen, total phosphorus, dissolved and total recoverable lead and zinc, and select pesticide compound summaries are presented for 71 of these stations. The stations primarily have been classified into groups corresponding to the physiography of the State, primary land use, or unique station types. In addition, a summary of hydrologic conditions in the State including peak streamflows, monthly mean streamflows, and 7-day low flows is presented.

Full Text Available This paper shows the impact of mixing water and abrasives in water jet cutting process on the quality of the machined surface. The tests were done with polymer material SIPAS, where the influence of cutting parameters was researched (cutting pressure, cutting feed and abrasive mass flow. The surface roughness was measured on several zones, regarding the depth of materials, because the roughness is increased with the material thickness.

In general, polymers exhibit excellent bulk properties but may not possess specific surface properties for successful applications in biomaterials and nanotechnology. Surface modification of polymers with the self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of organosilanes - ‘Silanization’ - is an attractive approach to alter surface properties without altering the polymer’s desired bulk properties. However, a pretreatment such as exposure to UV/O or plasma is normally required to generate active surface groups prior to silanization. These pretreatments cause undesirable surface changes such as severe surface roughening and excessive surface damage. Recent studies in silanization suggest that the presence of water or OH groups on the surface is essential to form SAMs. In this study we investigated the importance of surfacewater layer and OH groups in the formation of SAMs for a variety of polymers. The pre and post-modified polymers were examined using fourier transform infrared spectrometry, scanning probe microscopy and contact angle measurements. The results show that organosilanes can be grafted to a polymer surface as long as a water layer can be physisorbed to the surface or the polymer itself contains OH groups. However the monolayers formed are less organized compared to those formed on silicon wafers due to the amorphous nature of the polymers.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — SWFSC FED Mid Water Trawl Juvenile Rockfish Survey: Station Information and Surface Data. Surveys have been conducted along the central California coast in May/June...

Jun 5, 2013 ... The majority of South African inland surfacewater sources are compromised due to a ... minimising residual coagulant, minimising sludge production .... included as being indicative of the worst effects of indirect reuse.

The theme of a second inflection point of the temperature dependence of the surface tension of water remains a subject of controversy. Using data above 273 K, it is difficult to get a proof of existence of the second inflection point, because of experimental uncertainties. Data for the surface tension of supercooled water and results of a molecular dynamics study were included into the exploration of existence of an inflection point. A new term was included into the IAPWS equation to describe the surface tension in the supercooled water region. The new equation describes the surface tension values of ordinary water between 228 K and 647 K and leads to the inflection point value at a temperature of about 1.5 °C.

Ground-water budgets were developed for 32 small basin-based zones in the Greenwich area of southwestern Connecticut, where crystalline-bedrock aquifers supply private wells, to determine the status of residential ground-water consumption relative to rates of ground-water recharge and discharge. Estimated residential ground-water withdrawals for small basins (averaging 1.7 square miles (mi2) ranged from 0 to 0.16 million gallons per day per square mile (Mgal/d/mi2). To develop these budgets, residential ground-water withdrawals were estimated using multiple-linear regression models that relate water use from public water supply to data on residential property characteristics. Average daily water use of households with public water supply ranged from 219 to 1,082 gallons per day (gal/d). A steady-state finite-difference ground-water-flow model was developed to track water budgets, and to estimate optimal values for hydraulic conductivity of the bedrock (0.05 feet per day) and recharge to the overlying till deposits (6.9 inches) using nonlinear regression. Estimated recharge rates to the small basins ranged from 3.6 to 7.5 inches per year (in/yr) and relate to the percentage of the basin underlain by coarse-grained glacial stratified deposits. Recharge was not applied to impervious areas to account for the effects of urbanization. Net residential ground-water consumption was estimated as ground-water withdrawals increased during the growing season, and ranged from 0 to 0.9 in/yr. Long-term average stream base flows simulated by the ground-water-flow model were compared to calculated values of average base flow and low flow to determine if base flow was substantially reduced in any of the basins studied. Three of the 32 basins studied had simulated base flows less than 3 in/yr, as a result of either ground-water withdrawals or reduced recharge due to urbanization. A water-availability criteria of the difference between the 30-day 2-year low flow and the recharge rate

In this paper waves generated by two-dimensional mass movement are simulated using a numerical model based on the full hydrodynamic coupling between rigid-body motion and ambient fluid flow. This approach has the capability to represent the dynamics of the moving rigid body, which avoids the need to prescribe the body velocity based on the data measurements. This model is implemented in the CFX code and uses the Reynolds average Navier-Stokes equations solver coupled to the recently developed immersed solid technique. The latter technique allows us to follow implicitly the motion of the solid block based on the rigid body solver. The volume-of-fluid method is used to track the free surface locations. The accuracy of the present model is firstly examined against the simple physical case of a freely falling rigid body into water reproducing Scott Russell's solitary waves. More complex and realistic simulations of aerial and submarine mass-movement, simulated by a rigid wedge sliding into water along a 45 Degree-Sign slope, are then performed. Simulated results of the aerial mass movement show the complex flow patterns in terms of the velocity fields and free surface profiles. Results are in good agreement with the available experimental data. In addition, the physical processes associated with the generation of water wave by two-dimensional submarine mass-movement are explored. The effects of the initial submergence and specific gravity on the slide mass kinematics and maximum wave amplitude are investigated. The terminal velocity and initial acceleration of the slide mass are well predicted when compared to experimental results. It is found that the initial submergence did not have a significant effect on the initial acceleration of the slide block centre of mass. However, it depends nonlinearly on the specific gravity. The maximum wave amplitude and the time at which it occurred are also presented as a function of the initial submergence and specific gravity

In this paper waves generated by two-dimensional mass movement are simulated using a numerical model based on the full hydrodynamic coupling between rigid-body motion and ambient fluid flow. This approach has the capability to represent the dynamics of the moving rigid body, which avoids the need to prescribe the body velocity based on the data measurements. This model is implemented in the CFX code and uses the Reynolds average Navier-Stokes equations solver coupled to the recently developed immersed solid technique. The latter technique allows us to follow implicitly the motion of the solid block based on the rigid body solver. The volume-of-fluid method is used to track the free surface locations. The accuracy of the present model is firstly examined against the simple physical case of a freely falling rigid body into water reproducing Scott Russell's solitary waves. More complex and realistic simulations of aerial and submarine mass-movement, simulated by a rigid wedge sliding into water along a 45° slope, are then performed. Simulated results of the aerial mass movement show the complex flow patterns in terms of the velocity fields and free surface profiles. Results are in good agreement with the available experimental data. In addition, the physical processes associated with the generation of water wave by two-dimensional submarine mass-movement are explored. The effects of the initial submergence and specific gravity on the slide mass kinematics and maximum wave amplitude are investigated. The terminal velocity and initial acceleration of the slide mass are well predicted when compared to experimental results. It is found that the initial submergence did not have a significant effect on the initial acceleration of the slide block centre of mass. However, it depends nonlinearly\\vadjust{\

's oceans and seas is most significantly impacted by human activities. More than half of the world's population lives within 100 km of a coast and hence the overwhelming majority of anthropogenic fluxes to aquatic systems occur in the coastal zone. We discuss the particular challenges that arise from...... measurement requirements represent significant barriers to application to measurement of particle dry deposition fluxes although, as discussed, innovative solutions are now becoming available. In the final section, we examine meteorological controls on deposition to the coastal zone. This region of the world...... flux to coastal waters, atmosphere-surface exchange represents a significant component of the total flux and may be particularly critical during the summertime when both the riverine input and ambient nutrient concentrations are often at a minimum. In this chapter, we present an overview...

compare the results with experiment. This work will be used to help interpret field data of bistatic scattering from sea ice cover and calibrate...approximate analytical and numerical acoustic models used to compute bistatic scattering. The clouds of bubbles entrained at the sea surface by breaking...ABSTRACT SAR 18. NUMBER OF PAGES 7 19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON a. REPORT unclassified b. ABSTRACT unclassified c. THIS PAGE unclassified

Residence time distributions for flowing water and reactive matter are commonly used integrated properties of the transport process for determining technical issues of water resource management and in eco-hydrological science. Two general issues for tracer techniques are that the concentration-vs-time relation following a tracer injection (the breakthrough curve) gives unique transport information in different parts of the curve and separation of hydromechanical and reactive mechanisms often require simultaneous tracer injections. This presentation discusses evaluation methods for simultaneous tracer injections based on examples of tracer experiments in small rivers, streams and wetlands. Tritiated water is used as a practically inert substance to reflect the actual hydrodynamics, but other involved tracers are Cr(III)-51, P-32 and N-15. Hydromechanical, in-stream dispersion is reflected as a symmetrical spreading of the spatial concentration distribution. This requires that the transport distance over water depth is larger than about five times the flow Peclet number. Transversal retention of both inert and reactive solutes is reflected in terms of the tail of the breakthrough curve. Especially, reactive solutes can have a substantial magnification of the tailing behaviour depending on reaction rates or partitioning coefficients. To accurately discriminate between the effects of reactions and hydromechanical mixing its is relevant to use simultaneous injections of inert and reactive tracers with a sequential or integrated evaluation procedure. As an example, the slope of the P-32 tailing is consistently smaller than that of a simultaneous tritium injection in Ekeby wetland, Eskilstuna. The same applies to N-15 injected in the same experiment, but nitrogen is affected also by a systematic loss due to denitrification. Uptake in stream-bed sediments can be caused by a pumping effect arising when a variable pressure field is created on the stream bottom due to bed

Full Text Available Festuca rubra plants maintain associations with the vertically transmitted fungal endophyte Epichloë festucae. A high prevalence of infected host plants in semiarid grasslands suggests that this association could be mutualistic. We investigated if the Epichloë-endophyte affects the growth and nutrient content of F. rubra plants subjected to drought. Endophyte-infected (E+ and non-infected (E- plants of two half-sib lines (PEN and RAB were subjected to three wateravailability treatments. Shoot and root biomass, nutrient content, proline, phenolic compounds and fungal alkaloids were measured after the treatments. The effect of the endophyte on shoot and root biomass and dead leaves depended on the plant line. In the PEN line, E+ plants had a greater S:R ratio than E-, but the opposite occurred in RAB. In both plant lines and all water treatments, endophyte-infected plants had greater concentrations of N, P and Zn in shoots and Ca, Mg and Zn in roots than E- plants. On average, E+ plants contained in their shoots more P (62%, Zn (58% and N (19% than E- plants. While the proline in shoots increased in response to water stress, the endophyte did not affect this response. A multivariate analysis showed that endophyte status and plant line impose stronger differences in the performance of the plants than the water stress treatments. Furthermore, differences between PEN and RAB lines seemed to be greater in E- than in E+ plants, suggesting that E+ plants of both lines are more similar than those of their non-infected version. This is probably due to the endophyte producing a similar effect in both plant lines, such as the increase in N, P and Zn in shoots. The remarkable effect of the endophyte in the nutrient balance of the plants could help to explain the high prevalence of infected plants in natural grasslands.

"Wood, in fact, is the unsung hero of the technological revolution that has brought us from a stone and bone culture to our present age.'' Perlin and Journey (1991). Given its high-energy content and versatile use, biomass in a form of wood has been used for energy purposes since millennia and through times has been preferred source of biomass. Ever since, the production and use of woody biomass resources expands globally. Main drivers for its use as a source of energy are diversification and the mitigation of energy related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through partial substitution of fossil fuels. An alternative option for wood biomass sourcing from natural forests is short rotation woody coppice. Its productivity is largely dependent on the environment in terms of climatic conditions. Especially drought is the major constraint of woody biomass production involving serious economic consequences. In the central Europe, increased global radiation and air temperature together with decreased relative humidity increases the reference evapotranspiration resulting in an increased demand for soil water during growing season. For that reason, our field experiment was designed to evaluate impact of decreased soil wateravailability on productivity of poplar based short rotation coppice plantation during multiple growing seasons. Throughfall exclusion system based on plastic roof strips placed under the canopy was used to drain up to 70 % of the incoming rain water. Usual methods were used to assess the annual above ground biomass increment expressed in dry matter content. Not surprisingly our results show systematic decline in the productivity of plots subjected to decreased soil wateravailability but also considerable resilience of the drought-stressed trees which will be also discussed. This study was supported by project "Building up a multidisciplinary scientific team focused on drought", No. CZ.1.07/2.3.00/20.0248 and PASED - project supported by Czech program

of the mixed phase at metal surfaces. The surface bonding can be considered to be similar to accepting a hydrogen bond, and we can thereby apply general cooperativity rules developed for hydrogen-bonded systems. This provides a simple understanding of why water molecules become more strongly bonded...... to the surface upon hydrogen bonding to OH and why the OH surface bonding is instead weakened through hydrogen bonding to water. We extend the application of this simple model to other observed cooperativity effects for pure water adsorption systems and H3O+ on metal surfaces.......We examine the balance of surface bonding and hydrogen bonding in the mixed OH + H2O overlayer on Pt(111), Cu(111), and Cu(110) via density functional theory calculations. We find that there is a cooperativity effect between surface bonding and hydrogen bonding that underlies the stability...

To achieve the hierarchy of roughness as observed in lotus leaves, most artificial water-repellent surfaces have nano-asperities on top of micropillars. However, observation of real lotus leaves through SEM reveals that nonoscale roughness covers the entire surface including the base as well as bumps. Thus we fabricate surfaces having the same hierarchical roughness structure as the lotus leaf by forming nanopillars on both micropillars and base. We compare the measures of water-repellency (static contact angle, contact angle hysteresis, and transition pressure between the Cassie and Wenzel states) of the lotus-like surface with those of surfaces having single micro- and nano- roughness. The results show that nanoscale roughness covering entire surface area leads to superior water-repellency to other surface roughness structures. We also give a theoretical consideration of this observation.

California's Central Valley is one of the most important agricultural areas in the world and is highly dependent on the availability and management of surfacewater and groundwater. As such, it is a valuable large-scale system for investigating the interaction of climate variability and water-resource management on surface-water and groundwater interactions. In the Central Valley, multiple tools are available to allow scientists to understand these interactions. However, the full effect of human activities on the interactions occurring along the Aquifer-Soil-Plant-Atmosphere continuum remains uncertain. Two models were linked to investigate how non-regulated (natural conditions) and regulated (releases from dams) surface-water inflows from the surrounding contributing drainage areas to the alluvial plains of the Central Valley affects the valley's surface-water supply and groundwater pumpage under different climate conditions. The Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) macroscale (surface) hydrologic model was used to estimate the non-regulated streamflow. The U.S. Geological Survey's recently developed Central Valley Hydrologic Model (CVHM) was used to route both the regulated and non-regulated streamflow to the Central Valley and simulate the resulting hydrologic system. The CVHM was developed using MODFLOW's Farm Process (MF-FMP) in order to simulate agricultural water demand, surface-water deliveries, groundwater pumpage, and return flows in 21 water-balance subregions. As such, the CVHM simulates conjunctive use of water, providing a broad perspective on changes in the water systems of the Valley. Inflows from the contributing mountain watersheds are simulated in CVHM using the streamflow-routing package for the 1961-2003 time period. In order to analyze the affect of climate variability, dry and wet years were identified from below the 10th and above the 90th percentiles, respectively, in a multi-decadal time series (1961-2003) of surface-water inflows. The

The effects of surface pressure on the physical properties of Langmuir monolayers of palmitic acid (PA) and dipalmitoylphosphatidic acid (DPPA) at the air/water interface are investigated through molecular dynamics simulations with atomistic force fields. The structure and dynamics of both monolayers and interfacial water are compared across the range of surface pressures at which stable monolayers can form. For PA monolayers at T = 300 K, the untilted condensed phase with a hexagonal lattice structure is found at high surface pressure, while the uniformly tilted condensed phase with a centered rectangular lattice structure is observed at low surface pressure, in agreement with the available experimental data. A state with uniform chain tilt but no periodic spatial ordering is observed for DPPA monolayers on a Na(+)/water subphase at both high and low surface pressures. The hydrophobic acyl chains of both monolayers pack efficiently at all surface pressures, resulting in a very small number of gauche defects. The analysis of the hydrogen-bonding structure/dynamics at the monolayer/water interface indicates that water molecules hydrogen-bonded to the DPPA head groups reorient more slowly than those hydrogen-bonded to the PA head groups, with the orientational dynamics becoming significantly slower at high surface pressure. Possible implications for physicochemical processes taking place on marine aerosols in the atmosphere are discussed.

Use of high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) in unconventional reservoirs to recover previously inaccessible oil and natural gas is rapidly expanding in North America and elsewhere. Although hydraulic fracturing has been practiced for decades, the advent of more technologically advanced horizontal drilling coupled with improved slickwater chemical formulations has allowed extensive natural gas and oil deposits to be recovered from shale formations. Millions of liters of local groundwaters are utilized to generate extensive fracture networks within these low-permeability reservoirs, allowing extraction of the trapped hydrocarbons. Although the technology is relatively standardized, the geographies and related policies and regulations guiding these operations vary markedly. Some ecosystems are more at risk from these operations than others because of either their sensitivities or the manner in which the HVHF operations are conducted. Generally, the closer geographical proximity of the susceptible ecosystem to a drilling site or a location of related industrial processes, the higher the risk of that ecosystem being impacted by the operation. The associated construction of roads, power grids, pipelines, well pads, and water-extraction systems along with increased truck traffic are common to virtually all HVHF operations. These operations may result in increased erosion and sedimentation, increased risk to aquatic ecosystems from chemical spills or runoff, habitat fragmentation, loss of stream riparian zones, altered biogeochemical cycling, and reduction of availablesurface and hyporheic water volumes because of withdrawal-induced lowering of local groundwater levels. The potential risks to surfacewaters from HVHF operations are similar in many ways to those resulting from agriculture, silviculture, mining, and urban development. Indeed, groundwater extraction associated with agriculture is perhaps a larger concern in the long term in some regions. Understanding the

The study assessed the quantity of surfacewater in the South Phuthiatsana catchment, estimated flows in ungauged catchments using Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and allocated the resources in the catchment using Water Evaluation And Planning (WEAP) model. SWAT model was calibrated from 1979 to 2001, the p-factor was 65%, r_factor 0.58, NS 0.59 and R2 0.59 for calibration and for validation from 2002 to 2013, the p-factor was 57%, the r_factor was 1.34, the NS was 0.52, and R2 was 0.66. The results show the water balance as: 26% of precipitation form streamflow, 41% of the total flow comes from baseflow, while surface runoff accounts for 59%, 14% of precipitation percolates to shallow aquifer, 1% percolates to deep aquifer and 68% of precipitation is lost through evapotranspiration. The WEAP model was calibrated using CG024 and CG084 stations and historical demands. For CG024 calibration (1972-2002) NS was 0.72 and R2 was 0.84 and for validation (2003-2014) the NS was 0.73 and R2 was 0.74. For CG084 calibration (2007-2011) NS and R2 were 0.55 and 0.64 and for validation (2012-2014) the NS and R2 were 0.63 and 0.89 respectively. Two scenarios were evaluated. First for the reference scenario, the Metolong industrial demands of 1.46 Mm3 and environmental demands of 2.29 Mm3 were both not met. Secondly, for the irrigation expansion scenario, increasing irrigation land by 12.3%, a total of 4.44 Mm3 demands were not met (irrigation accounts for 65.65% of the unmet). Therefore, the study recommends an irrigation plan for the catchment. The irrigation plan has to include: irrigation systems designed for the site, meteorological stations and an irrigator's association with experts forming part of the board.

Full Text Available To assurance the drinking water quality, the disinfecting has to be guaranteed. In this sense, chlorination is the most widely used method, which promotes the inactivation and/or destruction of pathogenic microorganisms. The analytic methods more common for free available chlorine in drinking water are based on the DPD colorimetric method. In this way, the main core of this research is to compare the results obtained between two devices that can use two types reagents: visual and digital equipments; and powder and tablet reagents. Moreover, was analyzed whatever correlation between the others measured parameters: pH, turbidity, electric conductivity, fluoride, total coliforms and Escherichia coli. Were collected 40 samples in particular homes, which were distributed in six districts of three different areas of the city of Goiânia (Goiás, Brazil. The results were that the powder reagent had higher values than tablet ones, and that the measures of the digital equipment were lower than the visual disk. By other hand, was found one linear correlation between turbidity and the free available chlorine, and one soft inverse relationship between the fluorine and the electric conductivity.

Full Text Available Soil microbial biomass (SMB plays an important role in nutrient cycling in agroecosystems, and is limited by several factors, such as soil wateravailability. This study assessed the effects of soil wateravailability on microbial biomass and its variation over time in the Latossolo Amarelo concrecionário of a secondary forest in eastern Amazonia. The fumigation-extraction method was used to estimate the soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen content (SMBC and SMBN. An adaptation of the fumigation-incubation method was used to determine basal respiration (CO2-SMB. The metabolic quotient (qCO2 and ratio of microbial carbon:organic carbon (CMIC:CORG were calculated based on those results. Soil moisture was generally significantly lower during the dry season and in the control plots. Irrigation raised soil moisture to levels close to those observed during the rainy season, but had no significant effect on SMB. The variables did not vary on a seasonal basis, except for the microbial C/N ratio that suggested the occurrence of seasonal shifts in the structure of the microbial community.

*Fine root dynamics is widely recognized as an important biogeochemical process, but there are few data on fine root growth and its response to soil resource availability, especially for tropical forests. *We evaluated the response of fine root dynamics to altered availability of soil water and nutrients in a 20-yr-old forest regrowth in eastern Amazonia. In one experiment the dry season reduction in soil moisture was alleviated by irrigation. In the other experiment, nutrient supply was reduced by litter removal. We used the ingrowth core technique to measure fine root mass growth, length growth, mortality and specific root length. *Dry-season irrigation had no significant effect on mass and length of live and dead roots, whereas litter removal reduced mass and length of live roots. For both irrigation and litter removal experiments, root growth was significantly greater in the dry season than in the wet season. *Increased root growth was associated with decreased soil wateravailability. However, root growth did not increase in response to nutrient reduction in litter removal plots. Overall, our results suggest that belowground allocation may differ according to the type of soil resource limitation.

Microbial attachment to drinking water pipe surfaces facilitates pathogen survival and deteriorates disinfection performance, directly threatening the safety of drinking water. Notwithstanding that the formation of biofilm has been studied for decades, the underlying mechanisms for the origins of microbial surface attachment in biofilm development in drinking water pipelines remain largely elusive. We combined experimental and mathematical methods to investigate the role of environmental stress-mediated cell motility on microbial surface attachment in chlorination-stressed drinking water distribution systems. Results show that at low levels of disinfectant (0.0-1.0 mg/L), the presence of chlorine promotes initiation of microbial surface attachment, while higher amounts of disinfectant (>1.0 mg/L) inhibit microbial attachment. The proposed mathematical model further demonstrates that chlorination stress (0.0-5.0 mg/L)-mediated microbial cell motility regulates the frequency of cell-wall collision and thereby controls initial microbial surface attachment. The results reveal that transport processes and decay patterns of chlorine in drinking water pipelines regulate microbial cell motility and, thus, control initial surface cell attachment. It provides a mechanistic understanding of microbial attachment shaped by environmental disinfection stress and leads to new insights into microbial safety protocols in water distribution systems.

Graphical abstract: Interaction between water molecules and internal clay surfaces was studied by means of neutron diffraction and quasielastic neutron scattering. A hydrophobic cation, TMA{sup +} was used to reduce hydration of interlayer cations. - Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate interaction between water molecules and internal clay surfaces by means of neutron diffraction and quasielastic neutron scattering. A hydrophobic cation, TMA{sup +} (NC{sub 4}H{sub 12}), was used to saturate the interlayer space of nontronite NAu-1 in order to reduce hydration of interlayer cations that could hinder the effects related to the clay-water interactions. The water content was low in order to reduce hydrogen bonding between water molecules. It was found that water molecules form strong hydrogen bonds with surface oxygen atoms of nontronite. The diffusion activation energy value E{sub a} = 29 {+-} 3 kJ/mol was obtained for water molecules hydrating the clay surface. These results confirm the assumption that surfaces of smectite clays with tetrahedral substitutions are hydrophilic.

Full Text Available This study investigates chemical grafting with fatty acid chlorides as a method for the surface modification of hydrophilic web materials. The resulting changes in the water repellence and barrier properties were studied. For this purpose, different grades of polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH were coated on regenerated cellulose films (“cellophane” and paper and then grafted with fatty acid chlorides. The PVOH grades varied in their degree of hydrolysis and average molecular weight. The surface was esterified with two fatty acid chlorides, palmitoyl (C16 and stearoyl chloride (C18, by chemical grafting. The chemical grafting resulted in water-repellent surfaces and reduced water vapor transmission rates by a factor of almost 19. The impact of the surface modification was greater for a higher degree of hydrolysis of the polyvinyl alcohol and for shorter fatty acid chains. Although the water vapor barrier for palmitoyl-grafted PVOH was higher than for stearoyl-grafted PVOH, the contact angle with water was lower. Additionally, it was shown that a higher degree of hydrolysis led to higher water vapor barrier improvement factors after grafting. Furthermore, the oxygen permeability decreased after grafting significantly, due to the fact that the grafting protects the PVOH against humidity when the humidity is applied on the grafted side. It can be concluded that the carbon chain length of the fatty acid chlorides is the limiting factor for water vapor adsorption, but the grafting density is the bottleneck for water diffusing in the polymer.

The N aquifer is the major source of water in the 5,400 square-mile Black Mesa area in northeastern Arizona. Availability of water is an important issue in northeastern Arizona because of continued water requirements for industrial and municipal use and the needs of a growing population. Precipitation in the Black Mesa area is typically about 6 to 14 inches per year. The water-monitoring program in the Black Mesa area began in 1971 and is designed to provide information about the long-term effects of ground-water withdrawals from the N aquifer for industrial and municipal uses. This report presents results of data collected for the monitoring program in the Black Mesa area from January 2006 to September 2007. The monitoring program includes measurements of (1) ground-water withdrawals, (2) ground-water levels, (3) spring discharge, (4) surface-water discharge, and (5) ground-water chemistry. Periodic testing of ground-water withdrawal meters is completed every 4 to 5 years. The Navajo Tribal Utility Authority (NTUA) yearly totals for the ground-water metered withdrawal data were unavailable in 2006 due to an up-grade within the NTUA computer network. Because NTUA data is often combined with Bureau of Indian Affairs data for the total withdrawals in a well system, withdrawals will not be published in this year's annual report. From 2006 to 2007, annually measured water levels in the Black Mesa area declined in 3 of 11 wells measured in the unconfined areas of the N aquifer, and the median change was 0.0 feet. Measurements indicated that water levels declined in 8 of 17 wells measured in the confined area of the aquifer. The median change for the confined area of the aquifer was 0.2 feet. From the prestress period (prior to 1965) to 2007, the median water-level change for 30 wells was -11.1 feet. Median water-level changes were 2.9 feet for 11 wells measured in the unconfined areas and -40.2 feet for 19 wells measured in the confined area. Spring flow was measured

This study investigates the effect of surface roughness, wettability, water contact angle hysteresis (CAH) and wetting hysteresis (WH) of polymeric substrates to the water drop condensation rate. We used five polyolefin coatings whose surface free energies were in a close range of 30-37 mJ/m2 but having different surface roughness and CAH. The formation of water breath figures was monitored at a temperature just below the dew point. The initial number of the condensed droplets per unit area (N0) and droplet surface coverage were determined during the early stage of drop condensation where the droplet coalescence was negligible. It was found that the mean drop diameter of condensed droplets on these polymer surfaces grow according to a power law with exponent 1/3 of time, similar to the previous reports given in the literature. It was determined that surface roughness and corresponding CAH and WH properties of polymers have important effects on the number of nucleation sites and growth rate of the condensed water droplets. N0 values and the surface coverage increased with the increase in surface roughness, CAH and WH of the polymer surfaces. The total condensed water drop volume also increased with the increase in surface roughness in accordance with the increase of the number of nucleated droplets.

Several complex methods of remediation are applied to open water oil spills. Sorbing the liquid hydrocarbons with polypropylene booms is an effective and less complex means of treating such events. There are, however, a variety of commercially available booms which display different performances in sorbing different viscosity hydrocarbons. There is no acceptable A.S.T.M. protocol to evaluate these booms for performance efficiency in various weather and hydrocarbon viscosity scenarios. The current paper proposes such a protocol and evaluates the most commonly used sorbent products with the new test procedures. Nine specific performance criteria, based on actual field applications, are demonstrated.

Radon-222 is a naturally occurring radioactive gas in the uranium-238 decay series that has traditionally been called, simply, radon. The lung cancer risks associated with the inhalation of radon decay products have been well documented by epidemiological studies on populations of uranium miners. The realization that radon is a public health hazard has raised the need for sampling and analytical guidelines for field personnel. Several sampling and analytical methods are being used to document radon concentrations in ground water and surfacewater worldwide but no convenient, single set of guidelines is available. Three different sampling and analytical methods - bubbler, liquid scintillation, and field screening - are discussed in this paper. The bubbler and liquid scintillation methods have high accuracy and precision, and small analytical method detection limits of 0.2 and 10 pCi/l (picocuries per liter), respectively. The field screening method generally is used as a qualitative reconnaissance tool.

Imidacloprid is one of the most widely used insecticides in the world. Its concentration in surfacewater exceeds the water quality norms in many parts of the Netherlands. Several studies have demonstrated harmful effects of this neonicotinoid to a wide range of non-target species. Therefore we expe

The location and persistence of surfacewater (inland and coastal) is both affected by climate and human activity and affects climate, biological diversity and human wellbeing. Global data sets documenting surfacewater location and seasonality have been produced from inventories and national descriptions, statistical extrapolation of regional data and satellite imagery, but measuring long-term changes at high resolution remains a challenge. Here, using three million Landsat satellite images, we quantify changes in global surfacewater over the past 32 years at 30-metre resolution. We record the months and years when water was present, where occurrence changed and what form changes took in terms of seasonality and persistence. Between 1984 and 2015 permanent surfacewater has disappeared from an area of almost 90,000 square kilometres, roughly equivalent to that of Lake Superior, though new permanent bodies of surfacewater covering 184,000 square kilometres have formed elsewhere. All continental regions show a net increase in permanent water, except Oceania, which has a fractional (one per cent) net loss. Much of the increase is from reservoir filling, although climate change is also implicated. Loss is more geographically concentrated than gain. Over 70 per cent of global net permanent water loss occurred in the Middle East and Central Asia, linked to drought and human actions including river diversion or damming and unregulated withdrawal. Losses in Australia and the USA linked to long-term droughts are also evident. This globally consistent, validated data set shows that impacts of climate change and climate oscillations on surfacewater occurrence can be measured and that evidence can be gathered to show how surfacewater is altered by human activities. We anticipate that this freely available data will improve the modelling of surface forcing, provide evidence of state and change in wetland ecotones (the transition areas between biomes), and inform water

Full Text Available Amongst human practices, agricultural surface-water management systems represent some of the largest integrated engineering works that shaped floodplains during history, directly or indirectly affecting the landscape. As a result of changes in agricultural practices and land use, many drainage networks have changed producing a greater exposure to flooding with a broad range of impacts on society, also because of climate inputs coupling with the human drivers. This research focuses on three main questions: which kind of land use changes related to the agricultural practices have been observed in the most recent years (~30 years? How does the influence on the watershed response to land use and land cover changes depend on the rainfall event characteristics and soil conditions, and what is their related significance? The investigation presented in this work includes modelling the water infiltration due to the soil properties and analysing the distributed water storage offered by the agricultural drainage system in a study area in Veneto (north-eastern Italy. The results show that economic changes control the development of agro-industrial landscapes, with effects on the hydrological response. Key elements that can enhance or reduce differences are the antecedent soil conditions and the climate characteristics. Criticalities should be expected for intense and irregular rainfall events, and for events that recurrently happen. Agricultural areas might be perceived to be of low priority when it comes to public funding of flood protection, compared to the priority given to urban ones. These outcomes highlight the importance of understanding how agricultural practices can be the driver of or can be used to avoid, or at least mitigate, flooding. The proposed methods can be valuable tools in evaluating the costs and benefits of the management of water in agriculture to inform better policy decision-making.

Tritium measurements are a powerful tool in hydrological and hydrogeological investigations for detecting mean residence times of several water reservoirs. Due to the low tritium activities in precipitation, ground and surfacewaters a low level measurement is necessary. Therefore often the liquid scintillation counting after an electrolytic enrichment of water is used. In this paper some practical aspects and problems of measurement are discussed and the problem of contamination in low level laboratories is shown. (orig.)

The low efficiency of implemented targeted programs to reduce the anthropogenic impact on hydroecosystem and overcoming its negative consequences demand a search for the optimal evidence reasonable decisions to improve the quality of Ingul river water basin for different economic sectors of water resources and the required number and suitable quality. Methodical bases of such research must be based on a detailed and comprehensive study of the hydrochemical regime and surfacewater quality. Th...

Surfacewater is a primary concept of human experience but concepts are captured in cultures and languages in many different ways. Still, many commonalities can be found due to the physical basis of many of the properties and categories. An abstract ontology of surfacewater features based only on those physical properties of landscape features has the best potential for serving as a foundational domain ontology. It can then be used to systematically incor-porate concepts that are specific to a culture, language, or scientific domain. The SurfaceWater ontology design pattern was developed both for domain knowledge distillation and to serve as a conceptual building-block for more complex surfacewater ontologies. A fundamental distinction is made in this on-tology between landscape features that act as containers (e.g., stream channels, basins) and the bodies of water (e.g., rivers, lakes) that occupy those containers. Concave (container) landforms semantics are specified in a Dry module and the semantics of contained bodies of water in a Wet module. The pattern is imple-mented in OWL, but Description Logic axioms and a detailed explanation is provided. The OWL ontology will be an important contribution to Semantic Web vocabulary for annotating surfacewater feature datasets. A discussion about why there is a need to complement the pattern with other ontologies, es-pecially the previously developed Surface Network pattern is also provided. Fi-nally, the practical value of the pattern in semantic querying of surfacewater datasets is illustrated through a few queries and annotated geospatial datasets.

The Ridracoli reservoir is the main drinking water supply reservoir serving the whole Romagna region, in Northern Italy. Such water supply system has a crucial role in an area where the different characteristics of the communities to be served, their size, the mass tourism and the presence of food industries highlight strong differences in drinking water needs. Its operation allows high quality drinking water supply to a million resident customers, plus a few millions of tourists during the summer of people and it reduces the need for water pumping from underground sources, and this is particularly important since the coastal area is subject also to subsidence and saline ingression into aquifers. The system experienced water shortage conditions thrice in the last decade, in 2002, in 2007 and in autumn-winter 2011-2012, when the reservoir water storage fell below the attention and the pre-emergency thresholds, thus prompting the implementation of a set of mitigation measures, including limitations to the population's water consumption. The reservoir receives water not only from the headwater catchment, closed at the dam, but also from four diversion watersheds, linked to the reservoir through an underground water channel. Such withdrawals are currently undersized, abstracting only a part of the streamflow exceeding the established minimum flows, due to the design of the water intake structures; it is therefore crucial understanding how the reservoir wateravailability might be increased through a fuller exploitation of the existing diversion catchment area. Since one of the four diversion catchment is currently ungauged (at least at the fine temporal scale needed for keeping into account the minimum flow requirements downstream of the intakes), the study first presents the set up and parameterisation of a continuous rainfall-runoff model at hourly time-step for the three gauged diversion watersheds and for the headwater catchment: a regional parameterisation

It has been established that the ability of erbium lasers to ablate hard dental tissue is due primarily to the laser- initiated subsurface expansion of the interstitial water trapped within the enamel and that by maintaining a thin film of water on the surface of the tooth, the efficiency of the laser ablation is enhanced. It has recently been suggested that a more aggressive ablative mechanism, designated as a hydrokinetic effect, occurs when atomized water droplets, introduced between the erbium laser and the surface of the tooth, are accelerated in the laser's field and impact the tooth's surface. It is the objective of this study to determine if the proposed hydrokinetic effect exists and to establish its contribution to the dental hard tissue ablation process. Two commercially available dental laser systems were employed in the hard tissue ablation studies. One system employed a water irrigation system in which the water was applied directly to the tooth, forming a thin film of water on the tooth's surface. The other system employed pressurized air and water to create an atomized mist of water droplets between the laser hand piece and the tooth. The ablative properties of the two lasers were studied upon hard inorganic materials, which were void of any water content, as well as dental enamel, which contained interstitial water within its crystalline structure. In each case the erbium laser beam was moved across the surface of the target material at a constant velocity. When exposing material void of any water content, no ablation of the surfaces was observed with either laser system. In contrast, when the irrigated dental enamel was exposed to the laser radiation, a linear groove was formed in the enamel surface. The volume of ablated dental tissue associated with each irrigation method was measured and plotted as a function of the energy within the laser pulse. Both dental laser systems exhibited similar enamel ablation rates and comparable ablated surface

The spatial pattern across the continental United States of the interannual variance of warm season water-dependent evapotranspiration, a pattern of relevance to land-atmosphere feedback, cannot be measured directly. Alternative and indirect approaches to estimating the pattern, however, do exist, and given the uncertainty of each, we use several such approaches here. We first quantify the water dependent evapotranspiration variance pattern inherent in two derived evapotranspiration datasets available from the literature. We then search for the pattern in proxy geophysical variables (air temperature, stream flow, and NDVI) known to have strong ties to evapotranspiration. The variances inherent in all of the different (and mostly independent) data sources show some differences but are generally strongly consistent they all show a large variance signal down the center of the U.S., with lower variances toward the east and (for the most part) toward the west. The robustness of the pattern across the datasets suggests that it indeed represents the pattern operating in nature. Using Budykos hydroclimatic framework, we show that the pattern can largely be explained by the relative strength of water and energy controls on evapotranspiration across the continent.

Surface tension, the tendency of fluid interfaces to behave elastically and minimize their surface, is routinely calculated as the difference between the lateral and normal components of the pressure or, invoking isotropy in momentum space, of the virial tensor. Here we show that the anisotropy of the kinetic energy tensor close to a liquid-vapor interface can be responsible for a large part of its surface tension (about 15% for water, independent from temperature).

Full Text Available Climate change will have adverse impacts on many different sectors of society, with manifold consequences for human livelihoods and well-being. However, a systematic method to quantify human well-being and livelihoods across sectors is so far unavailable, making it difficult to determine the extent of such impacts. Climate impact analyses are often limited to individual sectors (e.g. food or water and employ sector-specific target-measures, while systematic linkages to general livelihood conditions remain unexplored. Further, recent multi-model assessments have shown that uncertainties in projections of climate impacts deriving from climate and impact models as well as greenhouse gas scenarios are substantial, posing an additional challenge in linking climate impacts with livelihood conditions. This article first presents a methodology to consistently measure Adequate Human livelihood conditions for wEll-being And Development (AHEAD. Based on a transdisciplinary sample of influential concepts addressing human well-being, the approach measures the adequacy of conditions of 16 elements. We implement the method at global scale, using results from the Inter-Sectoral Impact Model Intercomparison Project (ISI-MIP to show how changes in wateravailability affect the fulfilment of AHEAD at national resolution. In addition, AHEAD allows identifying and differentiating uncertainty of climate and impact model projections. We show how the approach can help to put the substantial inter-model spread into the context of country-specific livelihood conditions by differentiating where the uncertainty about water scarcity is relevant with regard to livelihood conditions – and where it is not. The results indicate that in many countries today, livelihood conditions are compromised by water scarcity. However, more often, AHEAD fulfilment is limited through other elements. Moreover, the analysis shows that for 44 out of 111 countries, the water

Some small animals only use water transport mechanisms passively driven by surface energies. However, little is known about passive water transport mechanisms because it is difficult to measure the wettability of microstructures in small areas and determine the chemistry of biological surfaces. Herein, we developed to directly analyse the structural effects of wettability of chemically modified biological surfaces by using a nanoliter volume water droplet and a hi-speed video system. The wharf roach Ligia exotica transports water only by using open capillaries in its legs containing hair- and paddle-like microstructures. The structural effects of legs chemically modified with a self-assembled monolayer were analysed, so that the wharf roach has a smart water transport system passively driven by differences of wettability between the microstructures. We anticipate that this passive water transport mechanism may inspire novel biomimetic fluid manipulations with or without a gravitational field.

Stormwater in urban areas comprises of a substantial part of the urban water cycle, dominating the flow in many small urban streams, and the pollution levels are sizeable. No stormwater quality criteria were found here and no European or national emission limit values exist. Stormwater pollutants...... however are present in levels exceeding most of the regulated surfacewater quality criteria and environmental quality standards. Therefore catchment characterisation is needed to chose suitable treatment prior to discharge into receiving surfacewaters, as the mixing may be insufficient in small streams....

Supplemental irrigation represents one of the main strategies to mitigate the effects of climate variability and stabilize yields. Irrigated agriculture currently provides 40% of food production and its relevance is expected to further increase in the near future, in face of the projected alterations of rainfall patterns and increase in food, fiber, and biofuel demand. Because of the significant investments and water requirements involved in irrigation, strategic choices are needed to preserve productivity and profitability, while maintaining a sustainable water management - a nontrivial task given the unpredictability of the rainfall forcing. To facilitate decision making under uncertainty, a widely applicable probabilistic framework is proposed. The occurrence of rainfall events and irrigation applications are linked probabilistically to crop development during the growing season and yields at harvest. Based on these linkages, the probability density function of yields and corresponding probability density function of required irrigation volumes, as well as the probability density function of yields under the most common case of limited wateravailability are obtained analytically, as a function of irrigation strategy, climate, soil and crop parameters. The full probabilistic description of the frequency of occurrence of yields and water requirements is a crucial tool for decision making under uncertainty, e.g., via expected utility analysis. Furthermore, the knowledge of the probability density function of yield allows us to quantify the yield reduction hydrologic risk. Two risk indices are defined and quantified: the long-term risk index, suitable for long-term irrigation strategy assessment and investment planning, and the real-time risk index, providing a rigorous probabilistic quantification of the emergence of drought conditions during a single growing season in an agricultural setting. Our approach employs relatively few parameters and is thus easily and

The stable carbon isotope composition (delta(13)C) of foliage integrates signals resulting from environmental and hydraulic constraints on water movement and photosynthesis. We used branch length as a simple predictor of hydraulic constraints to water fluxes and determined the response of delta(13)C to varying wateravailability. Foliage up to 6 years old was taken from Pinus pinaster Ait. trees growing at four sites differing in precipitation (P; 414-984 mm year(-1)) and potential evaporation (ET; 1091-1750 mm year(-1)). Branch length was the principal determinant of temporal trends in delta(13)C. The strong relationship between delta(13)C and branch length was a function of hydraulic conductance, which was negatively correlated with branch length (r(2) = 0.84). Variation in P and ET among sites was reflected in delta(13)C, which was negatively correlated with P/ET (r(2) = 0.66). However, this analysis was confounded by differences in branch length. If the effects of branch length on delta(13)C were first removed, then the 'residual' delta(13)C was more closely related to P/ET (r(2) = 0.99), highlighting the importance of accounting for variation in hydraulic constraints to water flux between sites and years. For plant species that exhibit considerable phenotypic plasticity in response to changes in environment (e.g., variation in leaf area, branch length and number, or stem form), the environmental effects on delta(13)C in foliage can only be reliably assessed if deconvoluted from hydraulic constraints.

The Mekong River is the longest river in Southeast Asia and the world's eighth largest in discharge with draining an area of 795,000 km² from the eastern watershed of the Tibetan Plateau to the Mekong Delta including three provinces of China, Myanmar, Lao PDR, Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam. This makes the life of people highly vulnerable to availability of the water resources as soil moisture is one of the major fundamental variables in global hydrological cycles. The day-to-day variability in soil moisture on field to global scales is an important quantity for early warning systems for events like flooding and drought. In addition to the extreme situations the accurate soil moisture retrieval are important for agricultural irrigation scheduling and water resource management. The present study proposes a method to determine the effective soil hydraulic parameters directly from information available for the soil moisture state from the recently launched SMAP (L-band) microwave remote sensing observations. Since the optimized parameters are based on the near surface soil moisture information, further constraints are applied during the numerical simulation through the assimilation of GRACE Total Water Storage (TWS) within the physically based land surface model. This work addresses the improvement of availablewater capacity as the soil hydraulic parameters are optimized through the utilization of satellite-retrieved near surface soil moisture. The initial ranges of soil hydraulic parameters are taken in correspondence with the values available from the literature based on FAO. The optimization process is divided into two steps: the state variable are optimized and the optimal parameter values are then transferred for retrieving soil moisture and streamflow. A homogeneous soil system is considered as the soil moisture from sensors such as AMSR-E/SMAP can only be retrieved for the top few centimeters of soil. To evaluate the performance of the system in helping

[Objective] The response of surfacewater resources on climate changes was studied.[Method] By dint of monthly average temperature and precipitation in 45 meteorological stations in Jilin Province from 1960 to 2000,monthly runoff in 56 hydrological stations in Songhuajiang and Liaohe region,the surface runoff change and the response of surfacewater resources to climate change in 41 years were expounded.[Result] The runoff of Songliao region was limited during 1960s and 1970s.It began to increase slowly in ...

There is a growing demand for reliable 21st-century projections of wateravailability at the regional scale. Used alone, global climate models (GCMs) are unsuitable for generating such projections at catchment scales in the presence of simulated aridity biases. This is because the Budyko framework dictates that the partitioning of precipitation into runoff and evapotranspiration scales as a non-linear function of aridity. Therefore, GCMs are typically used in tandem with global hydrological models (GHMs), but this process is computationally expensive. Here, considering a Chinese case study, we utilise the Budyko framework to make use of plentiful GCM output, without the need for GHMs. We first apply the framework to 20th-century observations to show that the significant declines in Yellow river discharge between 1951 and 2000 cannot be accounted for by modelled climate change alone, with human activities playing a larger but poorly quantified role. We further show that the Budyko framework can be used to narrow the range of wateravailability projections in the Yangtze and Yellow river catchments by 33% an 72%, respectively, in the 21st-century RCP8.5 business-as-usual emission scenario. In the Yellow catchment the best-guess end-of-21st-century change in runoff decreases from an increase of 0.09 mm/d in raw multi-model mean output to an increase of 0.04 mm/d in Budyko corrected multi-model mean output. While this is a valuable finding, we stress that these changes could be dwarfed by changes due to human activity in the 21st century, unless strict water management policies are implemented.

Full Text Available This paper deals with the surfacewater quality assessment in the partial drainage area of the Bodva river and its tributaries. The water quality in the sampled areas ranged between polluted and strongly polluted. The main cause of the pollution is the increased abundance of coliform and thermo-tolerant coliform bacteria, and fecal streptococci. The reason the increase in their abundance is the dumping of the household waste water containing excrements and animal remains, and the unsatisfactorily treated water from the water treatment stations.

A new space mission concept called SurfaceWater and Ocean Topography (SWOT) is being developed jointly by a collaborative effort of the international oceanographic and hydrological communities for making high-resolution measurement of the water elevation of both the ocean and land surfacewater to answer the questions about the oceanic submesoscale processes and the storage and discharge of land surfacewater. The key instrument payload would be a Ka-band radar interferometer capable of making high-resolution wide-swath altimetry measurement. This paper describes the proposed science objectives and requirements as well as the measurement approach of SWOT, which is baselined to be launched in 2019. SWOT would demonstrate this new approach to advancing both oceanography and land hydrology and set a standard for future altimetry missions.

Broadleaf dominated forests of eastern US cover more than one million km2 and provide ecosystem services to millions of people. High species diversity and a varied sensitivity to drought make it uncertain whether these forests will be carbon sinks or sources under climate change. Ongoing climate change, increased in atmospheric CO2 concentration (ca) and strong reductions in acidic depositions are expected to alter growth and gas exchange of trees, and ultimately forest productivity. Still, the magnitude of these effects is unclear. A better comprehension of the species-specific responses to environmental changes will better inform models and managers on the vulnerability and resiliency of these forests. Here, we combined tree-ring width data with δ13C and δ18O measurements to investigate growth and physiological responses of red oak (Quercus rubra L.) and tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera L.) in northeastern US to changes in wateravailability, ca and acidic depositions for the period 1950-2014. Based on structural equation modeling approaches, we found that summer wateravailability (June-August) is the main environmental variable driving growth, water-use efficiency and δ18O of broadleaf trees whereas ca and acidic depositions have little effects. This high sensitivity to moisture availability was also supported by the very strong correlations found between summer vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and tree-ring δ13C (r = 0.67 and 0.71), and δ18O series (r = 0.62 and 0.72), for red oak and tulip poplar, respectively. In contrast, tree-ring width was less sensitive to summer VPD (r = -0.44 and-0.31). Since the mid 1980s, pluvial conditions occurring in northeastern US have increased stomatal conductance, carbon uptake, and growth of both species. Further, the strong spatial field correlations found between the tree-ring δ13C and δ18O and summer VPD indicate a greater sensitivity of eastern US broadleaf forests to moisture availability than previously known

Understanding the temporal and spatial variability of surfacewater sources within a basin is vital to our ability to manage the impacts of climate variability and land cover change. Water stable isotopes can be used as a tool to determine geographic and seasonal sources of water at the basin scale. Previous studies in the Coastal Range of Oregon reported that the variation in the isotopic signatures of surfacewater does not conform to the commonly observed “rainout effect”, which exhibits a trend of increasing isotopic depletion with rising elevation. The primary purpose of this research is to investigate the mechanisms governing seasonal and spatial variations in the isotopic signature of surfacewaters within the Marys River Basin, located in the leeward side of the Oregon Coastal Range. Surfacewater and precipitation samples were collected every 2-3 weeks for isotopic analysis of δ18O and δ2H for one year. Results indicate a significant difference in isotopic signature between watersheds underlain by basalt and sandstone. The degree of separation was the most distinct during the summer when low flows reflect deeper groundwater sources, whereas isotopic signatures during the rainy season (fall and winter) showed a greater degree of similarity between the two lithologies. This indicates that baseflow within streams drained by sandstone versus basalt is being supplied from two distinctly separate water sources. In addition, Marys River flow at the outle

Full Text Available In this work, non-reactive molecular dynamic simulations were conducted to determine the surface tension of water as a function of the concentration of the dissolved gaseous molecules (O2, which would in turn help to predict the pressure inside the nanobubbles under supersaturation conditions. Knowing the bubble pressure is a prerequisite for understanding the mechanisms behind the spontaneous combustion of the H2/O2 gases inside the nanobubbles. First, the surface tension of pure water was determined using the planar interface method and the Irving and Kirkwood formula. Next, the surface tension of water containing four different supersaturation concentrations (S of O2 gas molecules was computed considering the curved interface of a nanobubble. The surface tension of water was found to decrease with an increase in the supersaturation ratio or the concentration of the dissolved O2 gas molecules.

The results of the experimental and theoretical studies of the concentration dependence of surface tension of aqueous solutions of the 1,4-dioxane-acetone-water and glycerol-ethanol-water ternary systems were given. The studies were performed by the hanging-drop method on a DSA100 tensiometer. The maximum error of surface tension was 1%. The theoretical models for calculating the surface tension of the ternary systems of organic solutions were analyzed.

A report on the ground-water and surface-water surveys of the Nueces River Basin was included in a report by the Bureau of Reclamation, entitled "Comprehensive plan for water-resources development of the Nueces River Basin project planning report number 5-14.04-3, February 1946".

The transport of gasses dissolved in surfacewaters across the water-atmosphere interface is controlled by the piston velocity (k). This coefficient has large implications for, e.g., greenhouse gas fluxes but is challenging to quantify in situ. At present, empirical k-wind speed relationships from a small number of studies and systems are often extrapolated without knowledge of model performance. It is therefore of interest to search for new methods for estimating k, and to compare the pros and cons of existing and new methods. Wind speeds in such models are often measured at a height of 10 meters. In smaller bodies of water such as lakes, wind speeds can vary dramatically across the surface through varying degrees of wind shadow from e.g. trees at the shoreline. More local measurements of the watersurface, through wave heights or surface motion mapping, could give improved k-estimates over a surface, also taking into account wind fetch. At thermal infrared (IR) wavelengths water has very low reflectivity (depending on viewing angle) than can go below 1%, meaning that more than 99% is heat radiation giving a direct measurement of surface temperature variations. Using an IR camera at about 100 frames/s one could map surface temperature structures at a fraction of a mm depth even with waves present. In this presentation I will focus on IR imaging as a possible tool for estimating piston velocities. Results will be presented from IR field measurements, relating the motions of surface temperature structures to k calculated from other simultaneous measurements (flux chamber and ADV-Based Dissipation Rate), but also attempting to calculate k directly from the IR surface divergence. A relation between wave height and k will also be presented.

Full Text Available This study aims at understanding the presence of regulated and emerging micropollutants, particularly pesticides and pharmaceuticals, in surfacewater, regarding spatial and temporal influences at a watershed scale. The study of relations between micropollutants and other water quality and hydroclimatic parameters was carried out from a statistical analysis on historical and experimental data of different sampling sites from the main watershed of Brittany, western France. The outcomes point out the influence of urban and rural areas of the watershed as well as the impact of seasons on contamination variations. This work contributes to health risk assessment related to surfacewater contamination by micropollutants. This approach is particularly interesting in the case of agricultural watersheds such as the one studied, where more than 80% of surfacewater is used to produce drinking water.

Full Text Available A study has been carried out on the quality of ground and surfacewater with respect to chromium, manganese, zinc, copper, nickel, cadmium and arsenic contamination from 28 different sources in the predominantly rural Golaghat district of Assam (India. The metals were analysed by using atomic absorption spectrometer. Water samples were collected from groundwater and surfacewater during the dry and wet seasons of 2008 from the different sources in 28 locations (samples. The results are discussed in the light of possible health hazards from the metals in relation to their maximum permissible limits. The study shows the quality of ground and surfacewater in a sizeable number of water samples in the district not to be fully satisfactory with respect to presence of the metals beyond permissible limits of WHO. The metal concentration of groundwater in the district follows the trend As>Zn>Mn>Cr>Cu>Ni>Cd in both the seasons.

Full Text Available The growing demand for improved risk-based SurfaceWater Flooding (SWF warning systems is evident in EU directives and in the UK Government’s Pitt Review of the 2007 summer floods. This paper presents a novel approach for collating receptor and vulnerability datasets via the concept of an Impact Library, developed by the Health and Safety Laboratory as a depository of pre-calculated impact information on SWF risk for use in a real-time SWF Hazard Impact Model (HIM. This has potential benefits for the Flood Forecasting Centre (FFC as the organisation responsible for the issuing of flood guidance information for England and Wales. The SWF HIM takes a pixel-based approach to link probabilistic surfacewater runoff forecasts produced by CEH’s Grid-to-Grid hydrological model with Impact Library information to generate impact assessments. These are combined to estimate flood risk as a combination of impact severity and forecast likelihood, at 1km pixel level, and summarised for counties and local authorities. The SWF HIM takes advantage of recent advances in operational ensemble forecasting of rainfall by the Met Office and of SWF by the Environment Agency and CEH working together through the FFC. Results are presented for a case study event which affected the North East of England during 2012. The work has been developed through the UK’s Natural Hazards Partnership (NHP, a group of organisations gathered to provide information, research and analysis on natural hazards for civil contingencies, government and responders across the UK.

Due to water shortage, municipal reclaimed water rather than surfacewater was replenished into recycling cooling water system in power plants in some cities in China. In order to understand the effects of the measure on carbon steel corrosion, characteristics of two kinds of foulant produced in different systems were studied in the paper. Differences between municipal reclaimed water and surfacewater were analyzed firstly. Then, the weight and the morphology of two kinds of foulant were compared. Moreover, other characteristics including the total number of bacteria, sulfate reducing bacteria, iron bacteria, extracellular polymeric substance (EPS), protein (PN), and polysaccharide (PS) in foulant were analyzed. Based on results, it could be concluded that microbial and corrosive risk would be increased when the system replenished by municipal reclaimed water instead of surfacewater.

and DNA microarrays technologies.4,5,6,7,8 Although extensive experimental, theoretical and computational work has been devoted to study the nature of the interaction between silica and water,2,9-16 at the molecular level a complete understanding of silica-water systems has not been reached. Contact angle...... computations of water droplets on silica surfaces offers a useful fundamental and quantitative measurement in order to study chemical and physical properties of water-silica systems.3,16,17,18 For hydrophobic systems the static and dynamic properties of the fluid-solid interface are influenced by the presence...

Recent findings (e.g., Byrne et al, 2009) indicate that water ice lies very close to the surface at mid-latitudes on Mars. Re-interpretation of neutron and gamma-ray data is consistent with water ice buried less than a meter or two below the surface. Hydrothermal convection of brines provides a mechanism for delivering